
tokiWX L. 



A GRAMMAR 



MODERN IRISH LANGUAGE, 

DESIGNED FOR THE USE OF 

THE CLASSES IN THE UNIVERSITY OF DUBLIN. 

CHAELES HENRY HAMILTON piGHT, M.A., 

OF TRINITY COLLEGE, DUBLIN ; 

EDITOR OF "THE BOOK OF GENESIS IN HEBREW, WITH A CRITICALLY REVISED TEXT, 

VARIOUS READINGS, AND GRAMMATICAL AND CRITICAL NOTES," &C. ; 

ASST. CURATE OF MIDDLETON TYAS, YORKSHIRE. 



Second Edition— Revised and Enlarged. 




WILLIAMS AND NORGATE, 

14, HENRIETTA-STREET, COVENT GARDEN, LONDON; 

AND 

20, SOUTH FREDERICK-STREET, EDINBURGH. 

DUBLIN: HODGES, SMITH, AND CO. 
1860. 



<*%?£0 






O 



DUBLIN : PRINTED BY ALEX. THOM & SONS, 87 k 88, ABBEY-STREET. 






PREFACE. 



The little work of which the second edition is now is- 
su ^d from the press is a short introduction to the study 
of the Irish language, and is intended mainly to assist 
t j student desirous of obtaining an acquaintance with 
the language as it is spoken in many parts of our island ; 
while to those who desire to enter more deeply into the 
study of Celtic, it may, perhaps, serve as a starting 
point at which to commence their investigations. 

Similar elementary grammars of the Irish language, 
varying in value and interest, have been long before 
the public, the best of which are those of Dr. Neilson, 
and Mr. Connellan, the present Professor of Irish in 
Queen's College, Cork. These have been made use 
of in the drawing up of the present work. The 
former had been long in use as a class-book in the 
University of Dublin ; but as it was confessedly very 
inaccurate and provincial in the character of the Irish 
which it exhibited, I was asked by my friend, Rev. D. 
Foley, D.D., Professor of Irish in the University of Dub- 
lin, to draw up a short grammar which would be free 
from errors of that kind. This work having received 
the kind revision of Dr. Foley, was published with a 
recommendatory preface by him in 1855, the Board of 
Trinity College, Dublin, having very liberally made a 

a2 



IV PREFACE. 

grant sufficient to defray almost the entire expenses of 
its publication. Since its publication it has, at the in- 
stance of Professor Foley, been made a class-book in 
the Dtfblin university. 

It is well known by philologists that the great stand- 
ard grammar of Modern Irish is by Dr. 0' Donovan, one 
of the foremost representatives of native Celtic learning. 
This much praised work was published in 1845, and it 
is on it that I have mainly relied both in my first, and 
now again in my second edition. Much progress, how- 
ever, has been made since that time in Celtic studies, 
and great results may be looked for when the second 
edition of Dr. O'Donovan's grammar appears, as it is to 
be hoped that he will combine in it the results of Zeuss 
and his school, and of his own researches in the study 
of the Brehon Laws. 

Since the first publication of this little work the 
greatest change has come over our Celtic philology. 
That change has been caused by the appearance of the 
Grammatica Celtica of Zeuss. That great work which 
marks a new era of Celtic philology was published in 
1853. In it Zeuss solved the Celtic problem, viz. : 
the question, in what relationship the Irish, Welsh, 
and old Gaulish people stand both to each other and 
to the other nations. Numerous have been the works 
published on this question during the two last centuries. 
And yet we must say, with regret, that as to their 
value, it is almost none. In no department can more 
scientific errors be pointed out. The Continental 
scholars never mastered the Celtic languages ; the 
native scholars lacked, almost without exception, com- 
mon sense, and often common honesty. No Irish 



PREFACE. V 

scholar was conscientious enough to learn Welsh, no 
Welsh scholar to learn Irish ; but all were ready enough 
to compare their languages with Phoenician, Persian, 
Etruscan, Egyptian, of which again they knew, in 
reality, next to nothing. Justice compels us to men- 
tion one remarkable exception, the great Welsh scholar, 
Edward Lhwyd, of whom it may be said that he lived 
150 years before his time; but, unable to follow him, 
the native school had sunk into chaotic and childish 
etymological dreams. The Celtic problem appeared to 
be hopeless, and became distasteful to sober minds. 
Some twenty years ago, however, the influence of the 
new science of Comparative Philology began to be felt. 
Pritchard tried to apply it to Celtic with some success. 
The Continental linguists of Bopp's school, Bopp himself, 
Diefenbach, Pictet, and others, although tending in the 
right direction, failed to prove the truth. Zeuss at 
last succeeded by combining with an intellect of rare 
power a devotion to the subject which amounted, one 
may say, to a sacrifice of his life. And even this might 
not have been enough if he had not possessed what no 
one possessed before him, viz., the really oldest monu- 
ment of both the Irish and the Welsh dialects. Those 
of the Irish he found in the MSS. of St. GaU, Milan, 
Wiirtzburg, and Carlsruhe ; the Welsh, in Oxford. 

Dr. O'Donovan, in a paper on Zeuss in the Ulster 
Journal of Archaeology for 1859, quotes the following 
remarks by Dr. Siegfried in explanation of this : 
"Zeuss, in the course of his historical researches, had 
become more familiar with the great libraries of Europe 
than most men ; and he knew, what the scholars of Ire- 
land and Britain were not aware of, that the oldest Irish 



VI PREFACE. 

MSS. existing are not to be found either in the library 
of Trinity College, Dublin, or of the Royal Irish Aca- 
demy, nor yet in Oxford or London ; but that they had 
been hidden for hundreds of years in the Ambrosian 
Library at Milan, in the old monastery of St. Gall, in 
Switzerland, and in some other Continental places. 
Most people know how this occurred. Ireland was at 
one period famous for its learning, and called by our 
ancestors the Island of Saints, and Irish missionaries 
were then the missionary teachers of the Continent. In 
the numerous monasteries founded by them, such as St. 
Gall and Bobbio, learned men found a refuge. The 
MSS. Zeuss found in the German and Italian libraries 
are the results of their pious labours. These, however, 
are not original works, they are mere copies of parts of 
the Scriptures, and of the classics. In transcribing 
these, the monks, for the assistance of their own memo- 
ries, and for the benefit of younger scholars, used to 
write between the lines the literal Irish translation 
of difficult words and phrases. These are the famous 
glosses of St. Gall and of Milan. Zeuss saw their value, 
and spared no labour nor expense in copying them out 
with his own hand. Possessing them he soon learned 
more of the really oldest forms and grammar of the 
Irish language than any scholar had known before him. 
There are archaisms preserved in those glosses which 
were never found in the MSS. preserved in Great Bri- 
tain or in Ireland." 

Previous to the appearance of Zeuss work, attempts 
could be made with impunity to connect Welsh and 
Irish with Hebrew and Phoenician, or with Etruscan, 
Egyptian, and Basque. At the same time Welsh scho- 



PREFACE. Vll 

lars on the one hand, and Irish scholars on the other, 
were able to deny the connexion of the two languages. 
An end has been now put to all such vain attempts and 
assertions. It is now proved (1) that on no grounds of 
rational or scientific etymology can the Celtic be com- 
pared with the Shemitic or other allophylan families, 
but that it is of a purely Japhetic, i.e., Indo-European, 
origin ; and (2) that the Irish and Welsh were originally 
the same language. On this general result of the re- 
searches of Zeuss we quote the following statement of 
Dr. O'Donovan, in the article already alluded to, which 
is of peculiar value as showing that the results of the 
German scholar are adopted by the highest native 
authority on Celtic matters. O'Donovan states that 
the Grammatica Celtica has proved : — 

" 1. That the Irish and Welsh languages are one in 
their origin ; that their divergence, so far from being 
primeval, began only a few centuries before the Roman 
period ; that the difference between them was very 
small when Caesar landed in Britain — so small, that an 
old Hibernian, most likely, was still understood there ; 
and that both nations, Irish and British, were identical 
with the Celtse of the Continent — namely, those of 
Gaul, Spain, Lombardy, and the Alpine countries ; — this 
is, in fact, asserting the internal unity of the Celtic 
family. 

" 2. That this Celtic tongue is, in the full and com- 
plete sense of the term, one of the great Indo-European 
branches of human speech. This, which it had been 
impossible for the great linguist Bopp to prove, is fully 
demonstrated by Zeuss. 

" The consequence of these two facts is, that there 



Vlll PREFACE. 

must now be an end to all attempts at comparing either 
Hebrew, Phoenician, Egyptian, Basque, or any other 
language which is not Indo-European, with any dialect 
of Celtic. The consequence further is, that as far as 
language gives evidence, we must consider the inhabi- 
tants of these islands strictly as brethren of those other 
five European families constituting that vast and an- 
cient pastoral race who spread themselves in their no- 
madic migrations till, in the west, they occupied Gaul, 
and crossed over to Britain and to Ireland, the last 
boundary of the old world. It follows, likewise, that 
to the Celtic family we must allow the full Japhetic 
heir-loom, not only of the grandly organized original 
language, but of all that it attests of early culture in 
every respect, the first germs of a mythological Pan- 
theon included. 

" Of a heterogeneous mixture, Zeuss has found no 
trace either in the Welsh or the Irish ; therefore, what 
mediaeval tradition relates of such mixture is now a 
problem which must find solution from a different 
source." 

The Celtic family consists of two living branches, the 
British and the Irish ; the first comprising the Welsh, 
Cornish, and the Armoric ; the second comprising the 
Irish or Gaelic, the Scotch Gaelic, and the Manx. 

The antique Celtic of Gaul is unhappily lost. Many 
proper names, and a few words reported by the old 
classic writers, were long all we possessed of it. Grimm 
pointed out some curious charms reported by Marcellus, 
the physician of Theodosius the Great. During the 
last few years about ten really ancient Gaulish inscrip- 
tions have been discovered in France. Unfortunately 



PREFACE. IX 

they are all very short. M. Pictet, Baron Koget de 
Belloguet, Mr. Whitley Stokes, and Dr. Siegfried, have 
attempted to interpret them. 

With respect to the Irish language, we know it now 
in three stages : 1, Old Irish up to A.D. 1000. Of this 
Zeuss discovered the most ancient relics in the glosses 
of St. Gall, &c, of which he has printed a large por- 
tion in his Grammatica Celtica ; and Trinity College, 
Dublin, possesses, since last year, by the munificence 
of the Irish Primate, one parchment book of the same 
age, namely, the very valuable book of Armagh, now 
in preparation for publication by Rev. Dr. Reeves ; 
2, Middle Irish, from A.D. 1000-1400, is represented 
by the Brehon Laws, many printed works, and the vast 
MS. treasures at home ; and 3, of the Modern Irish, 
we have the later literature and the spoken language 
of the present day. 

The peculiar features of the language which, appa- 
rently, made it quite sui generis, and tended to open 
the door for many unfounded theories, have been at 
length historically traced, and their natural origin dis- 
covered. The absence of the neuter gender is shown 
to be merely a modern loss, as the language of the St. 
Gall glosses is nearly as full of neuters as Latin or 
Greek ; the aspirations so frequent in later times are 
perceived to have arisen from the influence of vowels, 
and the curious phenomenon designated by the name of 
eclipsis, is now ascertained to have owed its origin to 
the influence of a final n (See § 7). 

The Continental school of the followers of Zeuss is 
now working pari passu with the Dublin school of 
native Irish scholars, headed by the well known names 



X PREFACE. 

of Dr. Petrie, Dr. O'Donovan, Mr. Eugene Curry, Rev. 
Dr. Todd, S.F.T.C.D., and Mr. Stokes. 

Hermann Ebel has shown the etymological identity 
of the Irish cases of declension yet extant with those 
of the Indo-European languages ; and M. Pictet and 
Herr Gluck have completed Zeuss' researches on the 
Celtic names. A critical journal has been established 
at Berlin for the comparative study of Celtic and its 
sister languages (Kuhn and Schleicher's " Beitrage"). 

Celtic rational philology is only in its infancy. The 
critical Dublin school, the leading names of which have 
been already mentioned, have had so much employment 
in the mere careful editing of texts that they have been 
unable, hitherto, to digest the results of their labours. 
By Zeuss they have been now put into natural con- 
nexion with the other labourers in the wide field of 
Indo-European philology. Celtic benefits by all the 
light that has been thrown upon general philological 
studies by Grimm, Bopp, &c. ; while it is itself now appre- 
ciated as being essential to a complete understanding 
of the languages and the origin of the sister nations, 
viz., German, Italic, Greek, and their relations. But 
much yet remains to be done ; the full materials for 
working have not yet been obtained ; a Thesaurus of 
Irish being absolutely required to complete the tools 
necessary for working in the great Celtic mine. It is 
the grand and primary desideratum of Irish learning. 
We trust that, when the labour of editing the Brehon 
Laws is concluded, Mr. Curry and Dr. O'Donovan will 
supply this great want, and thereby enable the Conti- 
nental scholars successfully to pursue their studies. 

Since the issue of the first edition of this work, a 



PREFACE. XI 

work of a similar nature has appeared — namely, " The 
College Irish Grammar/' by Eev. Ulick J. Bourke, of 
Maynooth College. Dublin, 1856. In reply to Mr. 
Bourke' s strictures on my omission of the subjunctive 
mood in this Grammar, I merely remark, that we might 
as well insert in the number of cases of the Irish noun 
the Sanskrit instrumental and locative, because the ideas 
expressed by those cases can be conveyed by a use of 
the Irish cases ; as insert among the moods of the Irish 
verb the subjunctive, simply because the indicative in 
Irish is frequently used in a subjunctive signification. 

In conclusion, I beg to return my best thanks to my 
friend Dr. Kudolf Th. Siegfried, Professor of Sanskrit 
in the University of Dublin, for the kind assistance 
that he has afforded me in my attempt to bring this 
little work up to the present stand-point of Celtic inves- 
tigation. The Eev. Professor Foley has also kindly given 
the work the benefit of his revision ; and I humbly 
trust that this second edition may be found useful in 
promoting a knowledge of the vernacular Irish, and, at 
the same time, not wholly undeserving the attention 
of the general philologer. 

MlDDLETON TYAS, YORKSHIRE, 

July 26, 1S60. 



CONTENTS. 



Preface, 



Page 

iii 



Chapter I. 



Part I — Orthography. 

§ 1. The Alphabet, 1 

§ 2. Vowels and Rule cccoi le caoi, yc, .2 

§ 3. Diphthongs, 2 

§ 4. Triphthongs, 3 

§ 5. Contractions, 4 

Chapter II Mutations of Consonants. 

§ 6. Aspiration, &'c, 4 

§ 7. Eclipsis, • 5 



Chapter I. 



Part II — Etymology. 

§ 8. The Article, e 



Chapter II — The Noun. 

§ 9. The Noun in general, 7 

§ 10. First Declension, 8 

§11. Second Declension, 9 

§ 12. Third Declension, 10 

§ 13. Fourth Declension, 11 

§ 14. Fifth Declension, 11 

§ 15. Irregular Nouns, 12 

Chapter III.- 



—The Adjective. 








§16. The Adjective in general, . . . * J3 


§17. The First Declension, . 






14 


§18. Second Declension, 






14 


§19. Third Declension, 






14 


§ 20. Fourth Declension, 






15 


§21. Adjectives declined with Nouns, 






15 


§ 22. The Degrees of Comparison, 






16 


§23. Irregular Comparison, . 






17 


§ 24. The Numerals, . 






. 18 



XIV 



CONTENTS. 



Pag© 

Chapter IV The Pronoun. 

§ 25. The Pronoun in general, . . . . .19 

§ 26. Personal Pronouns, 19 

§ 27. The Personal Pronouns with Prepositions, . 21 

§ 28. Possessive Pronouns, 24 

§ 29. Kelative Pronouns, 25 

§ 30. Interrogative Pronouns, . . . .25 
§31. Demonstrative Pronouns, . . . .25 
§ 32. Indefinite Pronouns, 26 



Jhap 


rER V — The Verb. 










§33. 


Of the Verb in general, 


. 26 




§34. 


Formation of Moods and Tenses, 


. 28 




§35. 


Aspirations and Eclipses, 


. 31 




§36. 


The Eegular Verb, 




. 32 




§37. 


Irregular Verbs, . 




. 34 




§38. 


The Substantive Verb, bi, tt 


> be, 


. 34 




§39. 


CCbccifi, to soy, 




. 36 




§40. 


Oeiyi, to bear, 






. 38 




§41. 


CiT)im, to see, 






. 39 




§42. 


CUnn, to hear, 






. 41 




§43. 


T)ecm, to do, 






c 41 




§44. 


Pag, to find, . 






• 43 




§45. 


'gjnim, to do, 






. 45 




§46. 


1t, to eat, 






. 46 




§47. 


Tlig, to reach, 






. 46 




§48, 


'CccbcnYV t0 9 ive > 






. 47 




§49. 


'Cayi, to come, • 




. 48 




§50. 


T3eiT> or ce, to go, 




. 50 




§51. 


Defective Verbs, . 






• 51 



Chapter VI — Particles. 

§ 52. Adverbs, .51 

§ 53. Prepositions, 52 

§ 54. Conjunctions, ...... 53 

§ 55. Interjections, .53 



CONTENTS. X 

Page 

Part III— Syntax. 
Chapter I. § 56. The Article, ...... 54 

§ 57. The Noun, 55 

Chapter II— The Adjective. 

§58. Adjectives in general, . . . . .55 
§ 59. Numerals, 56 

Chapter III — The Pronoun. 

§ 60. Personal Pronouns, . . . .57 

§ 61. Possessive Pronouns, 57 

§ 62. Kelative and Interrogative Pronouns, . 57 

§ 63. Demonstrative and Indefinite Pronouns, . 58 

Chapter IY. § 64. The Verb, 58 

Chapter Y. — Particles. 

§ 65. Adverbs, 60 

§ 66. Prepositions, 60 

§ 67. Conjunctions and Interjections, . . .60 



IBISH GBAMMAB. 



PAETI 
ORTHOGRAPHY. 



CHAPTER I. 

§ 1. — The Alphabet. 

The ordinary Irish Alphabet consists of eighteen letters : 
they are — 

SOUND. 



CC a 1. Long, as a in ball. . . . 

2. Short, as a in what. . 

3. Obscure, as a in negative. 
b b As in English. 
C c 1. Before a slender vowel, as k in kin 

2. Before a broad vowel, as c in call 
T) T) 1. Somewhat thick, as the English th in 
thou. . 

2. Before a slender vowel, somewhat as 
din guardian. .- . 
Long, as ay in hay. , 
As in English. .... 

1. Before a slender vowel, as g in get. 

2. Before a broad vowel, as ^ in gone. 
As in English. 

1. Long, as i in marine. 

2. Short, as i in fin. 

1. As 11 in mill. . 

2. Somewhat as I in valiant. 
As in English. . 
As in English. . 

1. Long, as oa in coal. , 

2. Short, as u in M/c. . 
As in English. . 

1. Broad, as r in raw. . 

2. Slender, somewhat like the second 

in carrion 

S V 1. Before a slender vowel, as shin, shield. 

2. Before a broad vowel, as s in sow. 
T3 el. Rather thick, corresponding with the 
broad t>. , 
2. As t in bestial. . 
11 ti 1. Long, as u in rwfe. . 
2. Short, as u in f^wtf. . 



e 


e 


V 


P 


s 


5 


tl 


h 


1 


1 


L 


I 


m 


m 


n 


n 








P 


P 


H 


^ 



EXAMPLE. 

been, white. 
^ayi, come, 
iiomyxx, wi$ m&. 
bean, a vjoman. 
ciaU,, sense. 
cccc, a oaftfe. 

T>cm, a poem, 

Thcc, £od. 
-jpe, si#. 
peayi, a man, 
gecm, fove. 
gan, without, 

min, ww7& 

■mm, raea?. 

nni, honey. 

btntXe, a 6fow. 

me, /. 

ni, wo£. 

mo-fi, <77-ea^. 

oic, m7. 

pobal, a congregation, 

fiarm, apart. 

bein,, or mgr. 
-pun, we. 
ponccp, happiness. 

ccqrib, « M£ 
cigecqfincc, a lord. 
cut, ^e back part, 
bun, ^e bottom. 
B 



Z IRISH GRAMMAR. 

It must be borne in mind that all the attempts to illustrate 
the Irisb sounds by English are only approximations ; the 
true sound must be learnt by intercourse with those who 
speak the language. CCt> is pronounced in the West as oo, 
as pecccctT), sin. In other places it is pronounced as a in 
negative in nouns and infinitives, while in 3rd sing, past 
passive as 0:5 and ox. 

§ 2. — Vowels ; and Rule Cccot te cccot, 7c. 

CC, o, and 11, are called broad vowels; and e and 1 slender. 

The most general rule of the Irish language is that called 
cccot te cccot a^uy ieoxom te teatan, " a slender with a 
slender, and a broad with a broad ;" which is, that the vowel 
preceding a consonant, or combination of consonants, and that 
which follows it, must be of the same class ; sc. both broad, or 
both slender: e. g. Nom. f^oto^, Gen. ^otoi^e, not ^oto^e. 
Nom. pigecro6i|i ; Cren. •pgeccooficc, not pigeccooificc ; mot, 
motcam ; burnt, Buccitecqp, bucctccf). The reason of this rule 
is, that in Irish the two classes of vowels have a decided 
influence on the pronunciation of the consonants in immediate 
contact with them ; a, o, ti, giving them a broad sound, and 
e and 1 a slender. As this influence on the consonant is 
exercised both by the preceding as well as the following 
vowel, the pronunciation would be rendered uncertain if the 
two vowels were not of the same kind. This delicacy of the 
organs of speech, though partly known elsewhere, has not 
been carried out to the same extent by any of the Indo- 
European languages, nor was it fully developed in the older 
shape of the Celtic itself,, as Welsh does not partake of it. 
This rule has caused a rather cumbrous orthography, as a 
large number of vowels are now written for the mere purpose 
of insuring either the broad or slender pronunciation of the 
consonants, and these vowels which in reality have no sound, 
are distinguished in no way from those vowels which are 
sounded. This creates a difficulty in reading correctly Irish 
words. If every one of these silent vowels were marked, for 
instance, with a point, it would be of great assistance to the 
reader. Such an innovation, however, we cannot undertake 
to introduce. 

§ 3. — Diphthongs. 

There are in Irish thirteen diphthongs, which are: cce^ ao, 
ai, ea, ei, eo, eu, ice, 10, 111, 01, ua, m. CCe, ao, eu, eo, 1a, 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 



m, and 11 a, are generally long, the remaining are sometimes 
long and sometimes short. The diphthongs and triphthongs in 
Irish frequently are not real, but owe their rise to the opera- 
tion of the rule cctol te cccol, 7c, e. g., ccin^eai, an angel, kc. 
Those diphthongs which have their first vowel long are 
generally pronounced like dissyllables; as ixcim, I am. The 
following is a Table of the diphthongs and their pronuncia- 
tion: — 

A. — Invariable Diphthongs. 

cce like ai in pain. . . icce, of a day, 

<xo „ ay „ mayor. . . ccon, one. 

en „ a „ fare. . . getr-fi, sharp. 

1a „ ea „ clear. . . ciait, sense. 

11 a somewhat like oe in doer. . pucqi, cold. 



B.- 

m long, like awi 
— short, „ a 



- Variable Diphthongs. 
in drawing. 



„ rang. 



ea long, 

— short, 
ei long, 

— short, 
eo long, 

— short, 
10 long, 

— short, 
m long, 

— short, 
01 long, 

' » 

— short, 

m long, 

— short, 



tar. 



a 

ea 

ei 

i 

yeo 

u 



„ bane. 
„ heart. 
„ reign. 

),>• • 
„ yeoman. 
, , aus/c. 



„ bliss. 

„ few. . 

„ put. . 

„ more. 

„ tile. . 



m 
u 

ui 



„ crutch. 
„ fruit. 
„ quill. 



carni, lam. 
paii, a beam. 
Lcepai|i, a light. 
'oean, c?o. 
cecqriu, jW. 
pein, se(£ 
5ei|i,/a#. _ 
peoi, a sm7. 
T)eoc, a drink. 
pi on, wme. 
pio-p, knowledge. 
piti, worthy. 
piuc, &c^7. 
coi|i, 7W. 
coilt, a wood, 
coifl, a crime. 
C|I01T), a fight, 
cm^five. 
ptnl, Mood 



ei short is pronounced in Manster like e in sell. iu is pro- 
nounced like in done, in Connaught, &c. 

It must be borne in mind that the English sounds are ap- 
proximations. 

An accent is placed over vowels when they are long, as 
b&f , death. Also over the variable diphthongs when long. 

§ 4. — Triphthongs. 

The following five triphthongs are used in the Irish lan- 
guage, and are always long : — 

b2 



4 IRISH GRAMMAR. 

CC01 like ee in heep TYiaom, treasure. 

eoi „ yeo „ yeoman, with i after it. . -peoil, flesh. 

1CC1 ,, eei „ seeing ^iccig, a physician. 

1131 „ iew£„ viewing. . . . citnn, gentle. 

■ucn nearly like w in assured. . . cuccifvo, « visit. 

§ 5. — Contractions. 
The following contractions are frequently used in printed 
books : — 



7 a s«r- 


5 5<™- 


.1. eccoon, viz. 


4 «t^ 


§ ea. 


7c 6fo. 


^ CC1fX. 


V til. 


t> P : 


a an. 


ri Yin. 


TTi TW- 


5 S^S ™- 


f acu. 






CHAPTER II. 





Mutations or Consonants. 
§ 6. — Aspiration, &c. 

b, c, T), p, 5, m, p, j% c, are called mutable consonants, be- 
cause by aspiration or eclipsis tbey either entirely lose or 
change their sound. 

i, n, ft are called immutable consonants, because they are 
incapable of aspiration or eclipsis. 

As the mutable consonants have very different sounds when 
aspirated, it seems proper to give them here, with their va- 
riety of pronunciation: — 

13 in the beginning or end of a word sounds like v; as, mo 
tiaiie, my village ; fiti, you. In the middle of a word be- 
tween broad vowels it is generally sounded like w; as, a tea- 
ticqx, Ms hook. 

c before and after a broad vowel is pronounced like the 
Greek %, or as gh in lough, as, mo cccfia, my friend; toe, a 
lake; but if it precede or follow a slender vowel it receives a 
less guttural sound, as, cif)im, / see. The same diversity of 
sound prevails with regard to the German aspirate ch, acli 
being broad, ich, slender. 

1. t> and g sound like y in connexion with the slender 
vowels e and 1, but with a slight guttural sound ; as, a geinea- 
rhum, his birth. 

2. T) and 5 before and after a broad vowel have a strong gut- 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 5 

tural sound; as, mo 511 1, my voice. This sound does not occur 
in English, and must be learned by intercourse with natives. 

p is not sounded at all ; as, an pft, pronounced as, an ifi, 
of the man. 

m is pronounced like 13. 

p is pronounced like Ph in Philip ; as, a pocif , his suffering. 

f and t are pronounced like h alone ; as, mo f oicqp , my 
comfort; a tean^a, his tongue. 

i, n, and yi alone admit of being doubled in the middle or 
end of words ; as, mnnn, to us. T)l and In in the middle of 
words are pronounced like it, and tm like tin ; as, co-oiaf>, 
sleep; ceaxma, the same. 

§ 7. — Eclipsis. 

This term has been invented by Irish grammarians to denote 
one class of those alterations by which the initial letters of 
words are affected under certain conditions, as we shall see 
below. The term is taken from the peculiar orthographical 
contrivance, viz., as some of the alterations are so considerable 
that they would greatly disguise the word to the eye, the 
original letter, although silent, was allowed to remain in 
writing while the altered sound, which in reality is alone to 
be pronounced, was placed before it : the second letter is then, 
as the phrase is, eclipsed by the first. Hence arise the fol- 
lowing cases : — 

b is eclipsed by m ; as, ccp, m-baiie, our town. 

c „ 5 ; as, cqfi 5-ceanx, our right. 

t> and 5 „ n ; as, cqi n-Thoc, our God; dixngeajidn, our complaint. 

p „ 13 ; as, an b-ptnL cu, art thou? 

p „ b; as, &yi bpem, our punishment. 

Y „ T, ; as, an v-ftac, the rod. Vid. § 8. 

■c „ t> ; as, op, T»-ceme, our fire. 

These are pronounced as, ctfi maiie, &c. 

m suffers no eclipsis. 

n can scarcely be said to eclipse 5, but rather to coalesce 
with it; the pronunciation being like ng in singing. 

Instead of the above method, in older orthography the 
initial letter is doubled to indicate the eclipse ; as, cc, no, &c, 
instead of 5c, vz; thus, a cciann, their children, for a 5-ciann. 

The origin of the eclipsis is now well understood : it origin- 
ally took place only after certain words, and was in every case 
owing to an n, in which these words ended in the earlier 
period of the language. Vid. §§ 8, 24, 28, 35. 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 
PAET II. 

ETYMOLOGY. 



CHAPTER I. 

§ 8.— The Article. 

The article an, the, is inflected thus : Singular. Nom. an ; 
gen. masc. an, gen. fern, na; Plural, na. The dative is 
formed by an, with a preposition. After a preposition ending 
in a vowel the a of the article is dropped, as Wn ataiyi, in- 
correctly written von oxa-ifi, to the father. 

The form naift (Zeuss, p. 238,) was anciently used in the 
dat. plural, but is not to be met with in modern Irish. 

Certain prepositions when followed by the article, assume 
an f, e. g. le with,lefari, with the; qrie through, zi[iey an through 
the; iaft, after, layi^an, after the. This fact we conceive to be 
explicable only by assuming that the y belongs in reality to 
the article, and not to the preposition. 

The article causes the following changes in the initials of 
nouns. 

1. If the noun begins with a vowel, the article prefixes z 
to the nominative singular of masculines, and h to the genitive 
singular of feminines: it prefixes h to all the cases of the plural 
except the genitive, to which n is prefixed. See below, No. 2. 

2. If the noun begins with a mutable consonant, except t>, 
c, f, the article aspirates the initial mutables of masculines 
in the genitive, and of feminines in the nominative. 

After T)0 and ve the article aspirates in the dative of both 
. genders. In some parts of Ireland eclipsis is used instead of 
aspiration. CCnn, in, also aspirates with the article. 

In the genitive plural all initial mutables, including t> and 
z, are eclipsed, except -p. The reason of this is, that the geni- 
tive plural originally ended in n, as mnan, nan. This n ap- 
pears before vowels as mentioned in No. 1, and so in annpan 
uof ac, in the beginning. 

3. If the noun begins with f, followed by a vowel, or by I, 
n, or |t, wherever the article would aspirate other consonants, 
it, in this case, eclipses y by prefixing u. The origin of this 
t,, and also of that mentioned under No. 1, has not yet been 
satisfactorily explained. 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 



4. If the noun should begin with, i, n, or fi, or f before a 
mute, the article causes no change whatever, or in the singular 
of those beginning with v or u. 



CHAPTER II. 

The Noun. 
§ 9.— The Noun in General. 

There are but two genders in Irish, — the Masculine and the 
Feminine. The following are a few general rules for ascer- 
taining to which a noun belongs; but in most cases the learner 
must find the gender by experience, or from a lexicon. 

The following nouns are masculine : — Names of men and 
males generally. 

Diminutives in cm, in ; derivatives in aiT>e, uii)e, oif>e, cnfie, 
ox, a|i, ofi, and personal nouns ending in 6ifi; as, buceilreoifi, a 
thresher; abstract substantives in cqp; as, rmnecqp, sickness; and 
usually monosyllables in ecu, ucu, Uf, and ut; as, ucu, the 
breast. 

The following are generally feminine : — Names of women 
and females, of countries, rivers, and diseases, diminutives in 
65 ; derivatives in acu ; as, jxiogacu, a kingdom; and abstract 
substantives, except those in ccf ; as, ^ite, whiteness ; and in 
most cases those nouns in which the last vowel is slender. 

There are only two numbers, the singular and plural, and 
four cases distinct in form, the nominative, genitive, dative, 
and vocative. Under the nominative form are included the 
relations of the nominative and accusative, under the dative 
form,* the relations of the dative and ablative. The vocative 
has alivays the particle a prefixed, which aspirates the initial 
mutable. 

* In the former edition of this grammar the name prepositional was, after 
O'Donovan, given to this case ; it is more convenient, however, to retain the 
term dative. It must be borne in mind that it is the preposition prefixed 
that makes it either dative or ablative, and that the aspiration that will be 
seen so frequently to occur in the initial letter of the noun in this case, as t>o 
bctlX, is owing to the influence of the preposition t>o, to, and is not a neces- 
sary adjunct of the dative case. The dative is, therefore, in this grammar, 
given in its nude form without the preposition, and consequently without 
the aspiration, and the same has been done in the case of the vocative. 



8 IRISH GRAMMAR. 

The case endings in the modern language are, as might be 
expected, much fewer and less distinct than in the more 
ancient, in which the accusative singular and plural had 
frequently a distinct ending, and where also peculiar forms 
of the neuter and dual are found. The case distinctions ap- 
pear at an earlier period to have been lost by the Welsh and 
Cornish, with the exception of that internal inflexion ex- 
hibited by the first declension in Irish, of which a few traces 
exist even in those languages. 

We may arrange the nouns in the modern language into 
five classes, or declensions, which follow. Some nouns partake 
of the characteristics of several declensions. Zeuss, treating 
of the ancient language, classifies the nouns into two divisions, 
the vowel and the consonantal declension, so designated on 
account of the crude bases ending respectively in vowels and 
in consonants. In the modern language there are, however, 
but few traces of the second division left, which may perhaps 
be enumerated as the fifth declension, with some few nouns of 
the third, namely, those that make their genitive singular end 
in ox. 

§ 10. — First Declension. 

The first declension consists of masculine nouns whose geni- 
tive is formed from the nominative by adding a slender vowel 
to the broad one in the termination, or by changing the broad 
vowel or diphthong of the noun into a slender one. 

In the plural the nominative is like the genitive singular, 
and the genitive like the nominative singular. 

The dative case in the singular is like the nominative ; in 
the plural, it ends in ib, which is invariable throughout all 
the declensions. 

The vocative case plural is formed by adding a to the 
nominative singular. 



Singular. 
Nom. bctii, a limb. 
Gen. bcati. 
Dat. bcdX. 
Voc. bcnU,. 

In like manner decline — 

Singular. 
T>Ctit, a blind man. 
pecqi, gen. pp,, a man. 



Plural. 
Nom. bcati. 
Gen. ball. 
Dat. bccU,ccib\ 
Voc. bcrtXcc. 

Plural. 
cctyvxn, a path. 
yold'p, comfort 



mac, a son. bfiomac, a c&lt 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 9 

Some nouns of this declension form the nominative plural 
by adding m to the singular ; as, feoc, a sail, PI. f eoira. 
Whenever the nominative plural differs in form from the 
genitive singular, the dative plural is formed from it, not only 
in this, but in the other declensions, e. g. feotmib, so f^eai, 
a tale, Nom. PL f^eoxa, Dat. f^eoxraib. 

Many nouns ending in ox form the nominative plural by 
adding e to genitive singular ; c in declension becomes § ; as, 
uaiccc, a burden, a charge; Gen. Sing, uataig ; Nom. PI. 
uaicnge. 

§ 11 .—Second Declension. 

This declension comprises the greater part of the feminine 
nouns in the language, and but few masculines. 

The genitive singular has a slender increase. This causes 
an attenuation of the preceding syllable, if it be not slender 
already, according to the rule caol le caot, 7c. 

The dative case is formed from the genitive by dropping 
the increase. 

The nominative plural has a broad or slender increase re- 
gulated by the rule, cccol te cccoo, 7c. 



Singular. 
Nom. and Voc. cop a foot. 
Gen. . . coi^pe. 
Dat. . . coTp. 

In like manner decline — 



Plural. 
Nom. and Voc. copcc. 
Gen. . . cop, 
Dat. . 



co-pccib\ 



tn-peog, a lark. cftoc, a cross. 

ipgocog, a farmer. ctoc, a stone. 



Words in 61D make their nom. pi. in Tyroe; e.g., frjiccboiT), 
a scolding woman; pi. jr?|iccb6i'Di'6e. 

Some nouns, the vowel of whose termination is slender, 
form the plural either by adding a slender termination, or 
ecmncc; as, imb, an herb; PL Untie, or Unbecmncc : "But the 
latter form," says O'Donovan, " which is like the Saxon ter- 
mination en (as in oxen), is more general, and better than the 
former, because more distinct and forcible." When the nomi- 
native plural terminates in this mode, the genitive plural is 
formed from it by dropping the a ; e.g., the gen. pi. of linb is 
Unbecmn. 

The vocative singular of masc. nouns having a broad vowel 
in the termination of the nominative is generally attenuated. 



10 IRISH GRAMMAR. 

If the nominative plural be formed by adding ze to the sin- 
gular, as sometimes happens, the genitive plural is formed from 
it by adding at ; as colli, a wood; plural, nom. coiltue ; gen. 
coiiluecco ; dat. coittnb. 

§ 12. — Third Declension. 

The nouns of this declension are of both the masculine and 
feminine gender. It comprises nouns ending in 6ifi> fern, 
abstracts in acu, abstracts in ecqp, monosyllables with 10, as 
fiof, &c, and others. 

The genitive singular has a broad increase. 

The dative ends like the nominative in the singular number. 

The nominative plural takes a slender increase, ii>e and ue, 
and a broad increase in a, anna, and aca. 



Singular. 




Plural. 


Nom. and Voc. pgecrooijx, a 


Nom 


pigea'Doiyti'De. 


weaver. 


Gen. 


pigeccooiii. 


Gen. . . p5eaT>6yia. 


Dat. 


pigeccooifiio. 


Dat. . . pgeccooiyi. 


Yoc. 


-piSeccotfifiToe. 


Voc. . . pigeceooifi. 







Carefully observing the rule caot te caot, 7c, decline — 

mealtaoifi, a deceiver. 
moin, a bog. 
1/1 op, a rath. 



'jpidntn 5^601 yt, a saviour. 
pof, knowledge. 
peoii, flesh. 



Also, oxaiji, a father; gen. auafx ; nom. pi. aiqae, or 
aitfteaca, gen. aitjieac ; bjiamifi, a brother, nom. pi. bfiai- 
tfie, or byi&ityieaca ; and mccuaifi, a mother; also, cuit> ; 
gen. ccoa, a part. 

Those nouns in which the nominative plural ends in ze, or 
te, form the genitive by adding af) : — mom ; gen. pi. mom- 
^eaf). 

Many feminine nouns in 1|X make their genitive singular in 
ac, as 'oaifi, the oak, T)ayiac ; taf aift, a flame, taffiac, &c. 
These nouns make their nominative plural in aca, as laf fiaca, 
so coxaiyi, a city, catjiac ; nom. pi. caqrtaca. 

Nouns in eaf make their genitive either after the analogy 
of the first or third declension, as nnneaf, sickness; gen. 
nnnip, or uirmeafa. The first form is the more common. 

Certain nouns which take a broad increase also suffer an 
internal change; e.g.,fiof, knowledge, gen. peafa; Uff, news, 
gen. of fa; leaf, a rath, gen. leaf a, also iif. 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 11 

§ 13. — Fourth Declension. 

The fourth declension comprises nouns of both genders 
which have no change in the singular number. Most nouns 
ending in vowels, and generally those in 15, if), and in, are 
of this declension. 

The nominative plural is generally formed by adding if>e, 
ue, and ue, to nominative singular. 

The genitive plural is formed by adding f> or cro to nomina- 
tive singular, and sometimes to the nominative plural. 

It is, however, in common usage incorrectly, but frequently, 
made identical at one time with the nominative singular, and 
at another with the nominative plural. 



Singular. 
Nom. and Voc. pccmne, a ring. 
Gen. . . pdmne. 
Dat. . . pdmne. 



Plural. 
Nom. and Voc. pccmniT>e. 
Gen. . . pchrmeaf). 
Dat. . . 'pcanniT>i15. 



*Oume, a person, makes Dccoine; cattle makes cciuecmucc in 
the nominative plural. 

§ 14. — Fifth Declension. 

Nouns of the fifth declension are of both genders, and gener- 
ally end in vowels in the nominative. 

The genitive singular is formed by adding n or nn. 

The dative case is formed by attenuating the termination 
of the genitive singular. 

The nominative plural is generally formed by adding a to 
the genitive singular. Some nouns of this declension form 
their plurals irregularly, but they will be learned by practice, 
or from the dictionary. 

Plural. 



Nom. and Voc. cotiiccp/pcmccand 

c6rha|vpain. 
Gen. . . c6iii<rfipcm. 
Dat. . . coriiayi/paricciti. 



Singular. 

Nom. and Voc. cornccyvpa, a 

neighbour. 
Gen. . . corhccyvpan. 
Dat. . . c6iiia-p/pain. 

In like manner decline — 

ceanga, a tongue. i peayvpa, a person. 

T>ile, a flood. cecrcyiaiiia, a quarter. 

Cecmga also makes reccn^ta, rean^taca in the plural. 



12 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 



§ IS. — Irregular Nouns. 

"Dice, God; ca, a day ; bean, a woman; bo, a cow ; mi, a 
month; caojia, a sheep; qrio, a hovel; b|iu, or byioirm, a 
womb; ceo, ctfog; cyie, clay, are quite irregular, and are de- 
clined as follows : — 

Thcc, m,, God. 

Plural. 
Nom. T)ee, or T)eite. 
Gen. Tha, or T>eitecc6. 
Dat. T)eib, or T)eitib. 
Voc. T)ee, or T)eite. 



%ar. 
Nom. Thee. 
Gen. T)e. 
Dat. T)icc. 
Voc. T)e, or Tha. 



La, m., a day. 



Nom. Id. 

Gen. tcce. 
Dat. id, or to. 
Voc. id, or iae. 


Nom. iaete, or idite, and 

haeieawca. 
Gen. taeteai), or id. 
Dat. iaetib, or idicib. 
Voc. iaete, or idite. 


Oearij /., a woman. 


Nom. and Voc. bean. 
Gen. . . irmd. 
Dat. . . mnctoi. 


Nom. and Voc. mnd. 
Gen. . . ban. 
Dat. * . mndib. 


06 ; /., a cow. 


Nom. and Voc. bo. 
Gen. . . bo. 
Dat. . . btnn 


Nom. and Voc. ba. 
Gen.. . . bo. 
Dat. . . buaib*. 


TTli,/., a month. 


Nom. and Voc. mi. 

Gen. . . mio^a, mif. 

Dat. . . mif, mi. 


Nom. and Voc. mio'pa. 
Gen. . . mi of. 
Dat. . . mioyxxib. 


Caofia,/ 

Nom. caoyia. 
Gen. caoyiac. 
Dat. caoyia* 
Voc. caoyia- 


L, a sheep, 

Nom. caoiyti§. 
Gen. caoyiac. 
Dat. caoyicaib. 
Voc. caoyica. 


Cfio, m 

Singular. 
Nom. and Voc. cyio. 

Gen. . . cyio. 
Dat , . cyio. 


., a hut. 

Plural. 
Nom. and Voc. cfiaoite, and 

cyioite. 
Gen. e . cyio. 
Dat. . . cnxxoitib\ and 
cfioicib. 



HtlSH GRAMMAR. 13 



byxu,/., the womb. 



Nom. and Voc. bfiu- 

Gen. . . bfitnrme, or 

bnxmn. 
Dat. , . byiomn. 



Nom. and Voc, bfionna. 
Gen. . . bfiorm. 



Dat. . . bnxmnaib. 
Ceo, a fog, makes ceoig and ciox in the genitive singular. 
Cfte, /"., clay^ in the singular is declined thus : — 

!Nom. cyie. 

Gen. cfiiaT). 

Dat. efie. 

Voc. cyie. 

It would be well for the learner to practise himself in affix- 
ing the article to nouns. The changes and eclipses which are 
caused by the article have been stated in § 8. We give a 
few nouns here illustrative of the rules : — 

an «c-<rpai, the ass. 

an pean,, the man. 

an mac, the son. 

an bean, the woman. 



an c-atai|i, the father. 
an c-ea^bog, the bishop. 
an 61 g, the virgin. 
an eata, the swan. 
an 56115, the branch. 
an ^ aganx, the priest. 
an ponnac, the fox. 
an c- am seal, the angel. 

The gender of these nouns can be easily known by observing 
the influence of the article upon them. 



an W/iab, the mountain. 
an c-'puii, the eye. 
an c--pia^, the rod. 



CHAPTER III. 

The Adjective. 

§ 16. — The Adjective in General. 

There are four declensions of adjectives. The changes that 
the adjective undergoes when connected with a noun will be 
treated of in § 21. We give the adjectives in their simple 
form, and have omitted the aspirations as not rightly belong- 
ing to them in that state, for these aspirations do not occur 
when an adjective is the predicate of a sentence. 

With regard to their inflexions, it must be noted that the 
termination ib of the dative plural is never used unless the 
adjective be used substantively. The dative plural in adjec- 
tives is identical in form with the nominative plural. In the 
older form of the language, however, ib occurs with adjectives 
as well as substantives. 



14 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 



§ 17. — The First Declension. 

The first declension consists of adjectives ending in conson- 
ants having the vowel of the last syllable broad. 

In the masculine the inflexions are the same as those of 
the first declension of nouns, except that the nominative 
plural ends in a. 

In the feminine the inflexions are the same as those of the 
second declension of nouns. 

Cccoi, slender. 



Singular. 



MASC. 

Nom. cccoi. 
Gen. cccoi L 
Dat. cccoc. 
Voc. cccoii. 



FEM. 

cccol. 
cccoile. 
cccoit. 
cccoi. 



In like manner decline — 

ccn/o, high. 
'out), black. 



Plural. 

MASC. AND FEM. 

Nom. ccco-icc. 
Gen. cccoi.. 
Dat. cccoccc. 
Voc. cccoicc. 



tnofi, great. 
been, vjhite. 



§ 18. — Second Declension. 
This declension consists of adjectives ending in consonants, 
and having the vowel of their last syllable slender. 

The genitive singular masculine does not change, but the 
genitive singular feminine and nominative plural have a 
slender increase in e. 

TTlin, smooth. 





Singular. 




Plural. 




MASC. 


FEM. 


MASC. AND FEM. 


Nom. 


and Voc. min. 


min. 


Nom. and Voc. mine. 


Gen. 


. min. 


mine. 


Gen. . . min. 


Dat. 


. min. 


min. 


Dat. . . mine. 



Decline as examples, dyif ai§, ancient, and ucnf, tender. 

§ 19. — Third Declension. 
Adjectives ending in arhmi belong to this declension. 
The genitive singular, and nominative, vocative, and dative 
plural, are syncopated, and take a broad increase in a. 
gecmarritiii, lovely. 

Singular. Plural. 

MASC. AND FEM. MASC. AND FEM. 

Nom. geanamtnt. Nom. geanamta. 

Gen. geanaitiia. Gen. geccn amine.. 

Dat. seccnccrhtnl. Dat. geanarhUc. 

Voc. gean aril ml. Voc. geanamUc. 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 15 

In like manner decline — 

pGayiarfitni, manly. | gecmarfttnt, lovely. 

"8 an aril tut, womanly. 'oatariitnt, handsome. 

This termination, ccrhuii, means like (akin to partial i, Lat. 
similis) ; e. g,, -pea^cmithl, like a man, manly; stafwiwi, 
greenish (from ^iaf, green); mn&uarhtiii, effeminate (from the 
inflected form of bean). This termination occurs in nouns 
formed from these adjectives by adding the abstract termina- 
tion acT) or acu, as 'occuamiac'o, comeliness] 'peafiamiac'o, 
manliness j mnduarhiacT), effeminacy ; faoiteathuii, generous, 
\ aoiuearhtcccu, generosity. 

§ 20. — Fourth Declension. 

This declension consists of adjectives ending in vowels : 
they are alike in all cases, genders, and numbers. 



CCofDa, aged. 



Singular. 

MASC. AND FEM. 

Nom. ao'poa. 
Gen. ao'poa. 
Dat. ao^pT>a. 
Voc. ao'poa. 



Plural. 



MASC. AND FEM. 

Nom. ao-jroa. 
Gen. aop^a. 
Dat. aoy^Da. 
Voc. ao'poa. 



§ 21. — Adjectives declined with Nouns. 

Adjectives beginning with mutable consonants are aspirated 
in the nominative singular feminine, in the genitive singular 
masculine, in the vocative case singular of both genders, and 
in the plural in the nominative masculine if the noun ends in 
a consonant ; they are also aspirated in the dative singular 
masculine.* 

CCn ^eccyi seat, the white man. 

Singular. Plural. 



Nom. an peayi seal. 
Gen. an pfi §iX. 
Dat. 'oo'n peayi geai. 
Voc. a pp, 51 X,. 



Nom. na pifi geata. 
Gen. na opeafi ngeai. 
Dat. no na peanxab' geaia* 
Voc. a pean,a geota. 



* It is not easy to lay clown any general rule about the dative singular, 
as the influence upon the noun or adjective depends upon the preposition 
employed. The aspiration in the dative is modern and colloquial ; in the 
written language eclipsis generally takes place. 



16 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 



"Norn, an 5ean gecci. 
Gen. namnd 51 he. 
Dat. t>oVi rftnaoi 51 h 
Voc. a bean geat. 



OCn Bean §eac, £Ae wAi£e woman. 

Plural. 
Norn, na mnd geaia. 
Gen. na mban ngeat. 
I)at. t>o na mndi6 geata. 
Voc. a rnna geala. 



After this manner the learner might exercise himself with 
the following, given by Neilson in his Irish Grammar :— 



an la ptian,, the cold day. 

an cfiann mon,, the great tree. 



an rnaiT>m puayi, the cold morning. 
an ctoc nioyi, the great stone. 



a Consonants," as O'Donovan remarks, " are aspirated in the 
plural merely for the sake of euphony, and not to distinguish 
the gender ; for whenever the noun to which the adjective 
belongs terminates in a vowel, the initial consonant of the 
adjective retains its natural sound ; as, ceoiucc binne, sweet 
melodies. 

§ 22. — The Degrees of Comparison. 

In both the comparative and superlative the form of the 
adjective is the same, and they are distinguished from one 
another only by the particle affixed, or the context. 

The comparative is formed by putting niof before the geni- 
tive singular feminine of the positive, and the superlative by 
putting if , or cqp , before the same ; as geat, white; niof pie, 
whiter ; cqp pie, whitest. 

if is generally used before a slender vowel, ay before a 
broad, tiiof is probably a contraction for nfd cqp, thing which 
is, as in certain collocations niof cannot be correctly used; 
as, T)o uabayipamn mnu e T>a rn-bicco f e nil) bpecqvp,, / would 
give it to you if it were better, where niof (nil) cqp ?) becomes 
nif) baf). 

The particle niof is, however, sometimes omitted, e. g., in 
interrogative sentences; as, meafcciT) pern an coyia a bpaf)- 
nuipe T)e, do you consider it is right in the presence of God? 
Acts iv. 19. Similar is the usage when the assertive verb ip 
or ay begins the sentence, in which case niof , as O'Donovan 
remarks, is never used, as in the example cited by him, if 
pecqrip, me iond tu, / am better than thou. 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 



17 



In the ancient language we meet with a comparative end- 
ing in ueyi, ciyi (Greek repoq, Sansk. 7f^, tara), and a super- 
lative in em (Sansk. ^, ma, Lat. mus, as, Sansk.^TSJ'^J', ad- 

hama, Lat. infimus, and T^Tf, parama, primus, summus, mini- 
mus) ; but these terminations have disappeared in the modern 
language. The slender increase in niop ^ile is really the 
comparative inflexion; compare the old Irish comparative 
in iu, Sansk. tyas, Lat. ior, ius, Greek iljv. The ctp or if 
added to the superlative is in reality nothing but the sub- 
stantive verb, the superlative being formed similarly to that 
in French by the addition of the article to the comparative 
form. That the a and e are really comparative and super- 
lative inflexions is evident from a comparison of the Cornish, 
where both degrees, without distinction, terminate in a and 
e. — Vid. N orris s Cornish Grammar, p. 22. 

The adjective in the comparative and superlative under- 
goes no change, but is treated as an adjective of the fourth 
declension. 

§ 23. — Irregular Comparison. 

The following adjectives are irregular in their comparison, 
that is, they form their comparatives, and some their superla- 
tives, from adjectives now obsolete : — 



Comparative. Superlative. 

mop Uigcc. ip Uigcc. 

mop pccToe, rriop pa. 

niop Ufa, pup a. 

mop poi^pe, poipge. 
mop goiyie, ^aipe. 
niop 5ioyi|ia. 
mop cuipge. 
mop pedpp. 
rriop mionca. 
rriop mo. 
niop rneapa. 
mop ceo. 

Luau has also a regular comparative and superlative, luccite. 
The irregular comparative is borrowed from cup, a beginning. 
There is another form, corona, now in disuse. When uuif^e 
is used it generally expresses order of time, and is used some- 

c 



Positive. 
beag, little. 
'pa'oa, long. 

^ U 1T'l easy, 

pogtip, near. 
gari, near, 
5edpri, short. 
iuat, quick. 
mait, good. 
mime, often. 
mori, great. 
olc, bad. 
ceit, hot 



ip -pa. 
ip tip a. 
1 f poigpe. 

ip cuipge. 
ip rjedriri. 

ipmo. 
ip meapa. 
ip ceo. 



18 IRISH GRAMMAR. 

what adverbially, e.g., mif e an yeafi ba tuir^e, I was the 
first man to do any thing ; mcqx ba tuir^e end mire, for he 
was before me, John i. 30 — Ream's Irish Testament. So nior 
zmyge rid tdn^a'oaYi a n^ari T>d ceite, before they came together, 
Matt. i. 18. — Keane's translation, (caorja is the form used in 
O'Donnell's translation). 

§ 24 — The Numerals. 
The following is a list of the numerals : — 

VALUE. CARDINAL, One, ETC. ORDINAL, first, ETC. 

1. ccon. cecco. 

2. T)d ; abstract form : t>6. TKryicc. 

3. crii- srieccp and criiOYtiaT). 

4. ceitrte; abstract, cecrccari. ceatyiarnaT). 

5. cuig. cuigrtieaT). 

6. ye. yeirmeaT) and reirfieaT). 

7. -peace. reacxrfia'6. 

8. occ occrhcco. 

9. naoi. naorhaT). 

10. T>eic ; abstract, T>eas. T)eicrfieaT>. 

11. aon-T)ea5. aorirnaT) 'oeag. 

12. 'Do-'oeag. T>aria TDeag. 

13. t:rti- , oecc5. crtiOThaT) T>ect5, or criea'p'oeag. 

20. pice, ptce. pcceaT>rhaT>, ptcecc6. 

21. aon a'n pee, or ccon art cconrftceD an. pciT>. 

pciT). 

30. T>eic art pici'o, cyuocaT). crnoca'orha'6, or 'oeicrfiea'6 aft 

ptciT>. 

40. 730: pciT). T>d pcea'DrYiaT). 

50. cao^aT), caoga, T>eic a'r 'oeicrfiea'6 art 7)0: pciTj. 

T>d pci'o. 

60. "crti pciT). erii pciTrniecro. 

70. T)eic ir eyii piciT>. 'oeicrhea'6 art qrii pci'o. 

80. ceitrie pci'o, occrnogaT). ceitrie pciTrnieaT), or occrfio- 

90. nocaT), t>eic in ceitrte 'oeicrfiea'6 an. ceitfie peiT>, or 

pci'o. nocaT>aT). 

100. » cetiT) and ceaT>. cetmaT) and cea'oa'6. 

1,000. mite. miteaT). 

1,000,000. rmttiun. mittiunaT). 

T)6 and ceataiyi are never used with the noun, as they ex- 
press the numbers in the abstract. 

The following plurals are used: ipiciT), twenties; ceaT>ua, 
hundreds ; but in the enumeration of the hundreds, 200, 300, 
<fcc, the singular form is used. So mite; pi. mitue; gen. 
micueai). The singular mite is used also in the enumeration 
of thousands, e.g., reacu mite yeayi, seven thousand men. 

Pice is inflected thus : gen. pceaD ; dat. piciT). Cea'D 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 19 

makes its gen. ceiT). TVliltitm is inflected like a noun of the 
first declension. 

CCon, one, and T)&, two, aspirate the initial mutables of the 
nouns to which they are prefixed. -Seacr, ocu, riaoi, T>eic, 
eclipse the initial mutables of their nouns, and prefix n to 
nouns beginning with a vowel. The eclipsis arises (vid. § 7) 
from their forms originally being f eccen (Sansk. saptan, Lat. 
sept em), ocuen (Sansk. ashtari), noin (Sansk. navan, Lat. 
novem), Decen (Sansk. das'an, Lat. decern). 

The following nouns, with the exception of beijxu, are 
formed from the cardinals : — 



feccccccji, and moin/peifeccfi, 

seven persons. 
occcqfi, eight persons. 
naonbcqfi, nine persons. 
T>eicneabccfi, ten persons. 



T)iY\ or bei|ic, two persons. 
tTfiitifi, three persons. 
ceacfictfi, Jour persons. 
cthgecqfi, five persons. 
fei-jpecqfi, six persons. 

Most of these are compounded of the cardinals, and the 
noun pecqi, a man; but this has long been forgotten in 
practice, as they are applied to women as well as men, and 
-pecqft itself is sometimes expressed in addition, as John iv. 
18, oifi T)o bccoccfi cuigeafi peafi a^cro, for thou hast had five 
husbands. 



CHAPTER IV. 

The Pronoun. 

§ 25. — The Pronoun in general* 

There are six kinds of Pronouns, viz. — Personal, Possessive, 

Relative, Demonstrative, Interrogative, and Indefinite. The 

compound pronouns need not be considered as a separate class, 

as they are merely personal pronouns with prepositions. 

§ 26. — Personal Pronouns. 

There are four personal pronouns: — me, /; uu, thou; 
f e, he ; and f i, she, with their plurals ; which, when used em- 
phatically, take an additional syllable, called the " emphatic 
increase." We give here the two forms, simple and emphatic, 
It will beobserved that the genitive case admits of no emphatic 
increase. The genitive is in common parlance the possessive 
pronoun. Vid. §28. 

This so-called "emphatic increase" appears in the Scotch 
Gaelic, Welsh, and Cornish, as well as the Irish. That added 

c2 



20 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 



to the first person plural, namely tie, is, as Zeuss has shown, 
a repetition of the pronoun ; pm being the older form of the 
first person plural, afterwards, the p being rejected, til The 
Welsh has also an emphatic or reduplicated form of ni, nyni. 
Similarly, in Cornish, thyn means to us, and is also found re- 
duplicated thynny. The Welsh used reduplicated forms for 
all the persons ; thus, mi, I, myvi (v being the secondary 
form of m), chwi, you, chwychi, &c. The Cornish also fre- 
quently repeats the pronoun in what Mr. Norris calls the 
second state; as, worty, against her, worty hy, id.; hy being 
the third pers. sing. fern. ; it has also a broad increase similar 
to the Irish ; as, dys, to thee ; emphatic, dyso. 

■Beseem and paT)pxn may perhaps be reduplicated forms, 
as the increase seems sometimes to be used without the pro- 
noun being adjoined; as, arm fan vo bi beata, in him was 
life. Zeuss gives similar instances, and notes that the ancient 
form was p om and p em, alike for singular and plural. 



First Person. 


me,/. 


SIMPLE. 

Nom. me. 
Gen. mo. 
Dat. 'occm. 






EMPHATIC. 

Nom. mip e. 
Dat. 'ocempx. 


SIMPLE. 

Nom. prm- 
Gen. dr> 
Dat. -Diiitni. 
Ace. urn 


Phi 


*al. 


EMPHATIC. 

Nom. purine. 
Dat. T)umne. 


Second Person. 


TLx\, thou. 


SIMPLE. 

Nom. cti,tti. 
Gen. 730. 
Dat. miic 
Voc. tu. 


Sing 


ular 


EMPHATIC. 

Nom. cupx. 
Dat. T>tncpe. 
Voc. tupx. 


SIMPLE. 

Nom. pit). 
Gen. {kip. 
Dat. 7>adit5, T)1b. 
Ace. it5. 
Voc. pib. 


Ph 


iral. 


EMPHATIC. 

Nom. poVe. 
Dat. Txxoibpe. 
Voc. pioVe. 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 



21 



Third Person Masculine. Se, he. 

Singular. 

SIMPLE. EMPHATIC. 

Nom. f e. Nom. -pe^ean> 

Gen. a. Dat. -oofcm. 

Dat. »o6. Ace. e-pecm. 
Ace. e. 

Third Person Feminine. -81, she. 
Singular. 



SIMPLE. 

Nom. -pi. 
Gen. a. 
Dat. »oi. 
Ace. 1. 



EMPHATIC. 

Nom. p-jpe, Tpe. 
Dat. TUfe. 



Third Person Plural, Common Gender. Si ceo, they. 



SIMPLE. 

Nom. 'pen). 
Gen, a. 
Dat. T>6it5. 
Ace. icco. 



EMPHATIC. 

Nom. -peco-pan. 
Dat. T)6il5pean- 
Acc. iccofcm. 



Smn, fib, f e, ff, are the forms generally used for the nomi- 
native, and e, 1, for the accusative; the forms inn, 1b, are now 
nearly in disuse. 

T)ipn is used for Di^e when contempt is intended. 

Pein, self, is often affixed to the personal pronouns; as, 
me -pein, myself, &c. 



§ 27. — 27ie Personal Pronouns with Prepositions. 

The following combinations of the personal pronouns with 
prepositions occur so frequently that they ought to be care- 
fully committed to memory. There are fifteen of them in 
common use, many others are used in the ancient language, 
and similar combinations are to be met with in all the Celtic 
languages. 

1. With 0:5, at or with. 

Plural. 
ccguwn, with us. 
agiiiti, with you. 
aca, with them. 



05am, with me. 
a^cro, or agox, with thee. 
0:156, with him. 
aici, with her. 



22 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 



2. With ay, out of 



cqpccrn, out of me. 

ccpcro, or ccpcrc, out of thee. 

ccp, out of him. 

aij^e, co-psi, ow£ of her. 



Plural. 
ctf tnrin, out of us. 
ccftnti, ow£ of you. 
ccpccC) ccp^a, ow£ of them. 



Singular. 
oyim, ora me. 
Oftc, on thee. 
ccifi, ora Mm. 
tnyvp,e, tnjiti, o^ Aer* 



3. With aft, ttpon. 

oytyttunn, on us. 
0|V]fvui15, ow vow. 
ofvccc, or otiyia, orc 



4. With cum, towards, to. 



Singular. 
cti^arYi) unto me. 
cu^cco, unto thee. 
ctnge, ww to him. 
cuice, unto her. 



Singular. 
T)iom, from me. 
T>ioc, from thee. 
-oe, /tym» Mm. 
r o\,from her. 



Plural. 
ctigawYi, unto us. 
ctigait), unto you. 
cuccc, unto them. 



5. With ve,from, off. 

Plural. 
tdithi, from us. 
T>it5, from you. 
T)\oY>,from them. 



6. With vo, to. 



Singular. 
•oath, and *oom, to me. 
•otns, to thee. 
T)6, fo him. 
•oi, to for. 



Plural. 



T)uinn, to ws. 
•00:01 15, T)il5, to #0«. 
T)6il3, to tffom. 



7. TF&& eiT)ifi, or 1T>1|X, between. 

Plural. 
ecrofitmifi, between us. 
ecrojunft, between you. 
ecrcofiyia, and ecrcofttcc, between them. 

8. With ya, or yo, under. 



Singular. 
purn, under me. 
pUT), pur, under thee. 
paoi, and pe, under him. 
pthte, puiti, trader for. 



Plural. 
pthnn, wwefer ws. 
puit), under you. 
putcc, wwdfer tffom. 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 



23 



9. With cmn, in 

Singular, 
ion nam, in me. 
1 0rinoco, lonnai:, in thee. 
cmn, in him. 
innce, innci, in her. 



Plural 
lonnamn, in us. 
iormait5, in you. 
1011 tic a, in them. 



10. With im, or urn, upon or about. 



Singular. 
urn am, about me. 
umaT>, urnax:, about thee. 
in me, about him. 
tnmpe, tnmpi, about her. 



Plural, 
umamn, about us. 
umait), about you. 
um pa, about them. 



11. With Le, or pie, with. 



Singular. 
tiom, rnom, with me. 
Leac, pnoc, with thee. 
Leip, rirr, with him. 
Le, teite, rua, with her. 



Plural. 
Linn, purm, with us. 
h V3, pnt5, w^& #om. 
Leo, rvm, «^& ^ew. 



ti aim, from me. 
uottfo, from thee. 
VOLT), from him. 
uaite, uaiti,/rom her. 



12. With o, or via, from. 

Plural. 
tiainn, from us. 
xmifyfrom you. 
u oxa, from them. 



13. With ptoirfi, before. 



Singular. 
riorham, before me. 
riomaT), riomac, before thee. 
rionfie, before him. 
rioimpe, rioimpi, before her. 



Plural. 
riomairm, before us. 
riomaiti, before you 
riompa, before them. 



14. With rari, beyond. 



tortm, over me. 
topx, toriaT), over thee. 
caipiip, over him. 
tdip/pe, cdipipi, over her. 



Plural. 
top/pairm, over us. 
topptai V3, over you. 
tap/pa, tap/pea, over them. 



Singular. 
epiom, through me. 
cpioc, through thee. 
criiT), through him. 
criite, cp,ici, through her. 



15. With rpte, through. 



Plural. 
crurm, through us. 
criit), through you. 
criiota, through them. 



24 IRISH GRAMMAR. 

The emphatic increases for these compounds are, in the 
singular, ya for the first and second person, f ecm for the third 
person. In the plural, ne, m, for the first person ; fa, f e, for 
the second person ; and -jpcm, fecm, for the third person. 

Observe all through the rule caot te caot, 7c. 

§ 28. — Possessive Pronouns. 

The possessives are: — mo, my; t)o, thy; a, his, or hers; 
dfi, ours ; bufi, yours ; and a, theirs. 

The possessives mo, t>o, and bufi take the emphatic increase 
fa, or fe ; op, takes na or ne ; and a takes fan, or f ecm, 
according to the rule caot te caot, 7c. ; but the increase is 
always postfixed to the noun qualified by the possessives, or if 
that noun has an adjective, to the adjective; e.g., mo tom^a, 
my hand; ap, 5-cmnne, our hands; a tarn T>ecqp f an, his right 
hand. 

flflo, vo, and a, his, aspirate the initial mutables of their 
nouns; as, mo bean, my wife; dfi, bufi, and a, theirs, eclipse 
the same; as, bufx mbftocaifi, your brother. The eclipsis arises 
from the fact that these pronouns originally ended in n, which 
form appears before vowels and the mediae v and 5; their 
original forms were afin, paywi or poftn, and an ; a, hers, 
prefixes h to nouns beginning with a vowel. The a, his, is 
the Sansk. asya, ending in a vowel, hence it aspirates ; a, hers, 
is in Sansk. asyas, ending in a consonant, hence no change 
except before vowels; a, theirs, was in its full form an, Sansk. 
eshdm, Lat. eorum. This coincidence was shown some twenty 
years ago by Bopp, the founder of Comparative Philology, 
in his essay on the Celtic Languages, of which it formed one 
of the most brilliant points. 

The following are the combinations of the possessives with 
prepositions : — 

1. With vo, to. 

Plural. 



Singular. 
•00111, to my. 
'DOT), to thy. 
t)d, to his, to her. 



TKiyi, to our. 
"od, to their. 



2. With te, with. 



tern, with my. 
tex>, with thy. 



Singular. 
am, in my. 
oro, etc, in thy. 
net, in his or her. 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 25 

3. F%A an, in. 

Plural. 
'nail, irc owr. 
net, in their. 



Singular. 
6vn,from my. 
(ro, from, thy. 
on a, from his or her. 



4. TT^A 6, from. 

Plural. 
on a, /ram tfA^'r. 



§ 29. — Relative Pronouns. 

The relative pronouns are a, who, which, or what; noc, w^o, 
which ; ride, which not. The primitive form of the relative a 
for all genders was an, which by phonetic rule is intact before 
vowels and the mediae t>, 5, and becomes am before b, ayi 
before ji, and a before f, p, and the tenues. Viol. Zeuss, p. 348. 

Contractions frequently take place when the relative is pre- 
ceded by a preposition ending with a vowel ; as,T)arx, lerx, &c. 

T)drxb, or T>driab, and ierxb, may be analyzed, as the case may 
be, T>'a yio ba, to whom was, or t>' afi ab, to whom is ; bean 
T>dfib amm TDaifie, a woman whose name was Mary, or whose 
name is, <fcc. 

T)o, the sign of the past tense, frequently appears to stand 
for the relative in the modern language, but the cases cited 
may be explained on the simple view of supposing the relative 
to be omitted. 

T)d is used frequently as a relative; this va must be dis- 
tinguished from T>d, a compound of ve, of, and the relative a, 
"which would be better written T)'a, of what 

§ 30. — Interrogative Pronouns. 

The interrogatives are cia or ce ; plural, ciat), who, what; 
caT), cyxeuT), 50 T»e, what; cd, 5a, what or where. 

CaD (anciently cid, cex>), seems to have been the neuter of 
cia, though this use is lost in the modern language. £ ^ 
was anciently coue ; vid. Zeuss, p. 361. 

§ 31. — Demonstrative Pronouns. 
The demonstrative pronouns are : — fo, this, these; pn, that, 
those; pro, or tiro, yonder. They are all indeclinable. 

" When fo follows a word whose last vowel is slender, it is 



26 IRISH GRAMMAR. 

written p, or fe, and sometimes f eo ; as, na h-arnipfie fi, of 
this time (Keating's Hist, page 2) ; and fin, when it follows a 
word whose last vowel is broad, is written fan or fom 
[f ecm ?]" — O* Donovan. These changes are to accord with the 
rule cccol te cccol, 7c. 

" Sut> is generally used with personal pronouns, and ut) 
with nouns." — Connellan. Examples are: — an pBayi ut>, the 
man yonder ; to fe f ut>, it is he yonder. 

§ 32. — Indefinite Pronouns. 

These are: — eix;in, some; £ibe or cibe,* whoever; ccon, any; 
eite, other; a ceiie, each other; ^ac, every, each; 50:6 mle, 
every ; cac. any other ; neac, any one; ceaccctfi, or neacTOfi, 
either ; an re, ^e person who ; tnie, a£Z. Cac makes cdic in 
the genitive singular ; the rest are indeclinable. Some of 
these, it will be observed, are mere compounds which have 
obtained a sort of pronominal use, and others are more strictly 
pronominal adjectives. 



CHAPTER V. 
The Verb. 

§ 33. — Of the Verb in general. 

The Irish verb has four moods : — the Indicative, Imperative, 
Conditional, and Infinitive. The Infinitive is used with the 
particles a$, iayi, or aft zi, in the sense of present, past, and 
future participles respectively. 

There are five tenses, viz. : — the Present, Consuetudinal 
Present, Past, Consuetudinal Past, and the Future. The con- 
suetudinal tenses might very properly be classified as a 
separate mood. 

The conditional mood is chiefly used in expressing a condi- 
tion, and has frequently the particle t>&, if, expressed before it. 
Other particles often precede it, especially 50. It may some- 
times be rendered by the Latin imperfect subjunctive, but 
frequently has a sort of conditional future signification. Ex- 
amples may be found in Matt. xiii. 15 ; xiv. 15, 36 ; xx. 19 ; 
Acts vii. 19, &c. 

* Spelled also 51T) Ve, cicc Ve, evidently for gix) or ci& bcco e; cit> b'e 
is whatever. 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 27 

In the ancient language the consuetudinal past and present 
were alike. The consuetudinal past has, in the modern lan- 
guage, retained the ancient synthetic, or personal form, while 
the present has adopted the analytic, or impersonal. 

The indicative mood is often used in the sense of a subjunc- 
tive, but the latter is not distinguished by any peculiar end- 
ings. Initial changes, however, frequently take place, but 
these are owing to the influence of the particles preceding. 

The root of the verb, for practical purposes, may be con- 
sidered to be the second person singular imperative active, 
from which all the other parts of the verb can be formed by 
affixing certain terminations. Changes also take place in the 
beginning, but they are generally phonetic, and caused by 
certain particles prefixed, which serve to mark out some of 
the moods and tenses, and are sometimes not expressed, but 
understood. 

The persons of the verb are formed in two different ways, 
analytically and synthetically. The analytic mode expresses 
the various persons by the third person singular of the verb 
and the personal pronouns. The synthetic, which is the mode 
generally used in the ancient language, in Irish as elsewhere, 
expresses the persons by terminational endings. Thus, in 
the analytic mode, the verb is the same throughout, the differ- 
ent pronouns marking the various persons and the number. 
In the synthetic, the verb has distinct terminations for each 
person except the third person singular. Thus the analytic 
form of the present indicative of Of is — 

Singular. 
cd me, I am. 
cd cu, thou art 
x:a ^pe, he is. 

But the synthetic — 

cdrni, I am. 
cdijx, thou art. 
cd fe, he is. 

The analytic is generally used in asking a question ; e.g., 
an tabftcmn zvi 5<xoif>it5e ? Do you speak Irish ? But in 
answering, the synthetic ; labfiaim, / speak. The pronoun 
should not be used separately after the synthetic form, which 
would be a repetition of the pronoun; as T)ecmpaiT) ficro, they, 
they will do* 



Plural 
cd firm, we are. 
cd 'p 15, you are. 
cd micro, they are. 



cd pcro, they are. 



camaoro, we are. 
x:&tao^,you are. 
mro, they are. 



28 IRISH GRAMMAR. 



In English the analytic is the form used; in Latin the 
synthetic : — 

I love, amo. 
Thou lovest, amas. 
He loves, amat. 



We love, amamus. 
You love, amatis. 
They love, amant 

But even in the English language there are evident traces of 
a synthetic form : thus, thou lovest ; he loves ; where st and s 
are evidently traces of terminational ending3. 

In affixing the terminations to the verb, the rule cccoL te 
cccol cc^Uf Leoxcm le teoxcm must be constantly kept in mind. 

The terminational endings of the verb are given in the 
Table on the opposite page. 



§ 34. — Formation of Moods and Tenses. 

A. — Active Voice. 

The simplest form is the second person singular imperative 
active ; as, buccii, strike. 

The Present is formed by adding im, and the other per- 
sonal endings, as given in the table, to the root; as, buaitim, 
/ strike. 

The Consuetudinal Present (Englished by " habitually do ;" 
as, buctiieann me,/ habitually strike), is formed by adding 
cmn to the root. This tense has no synthetic form. 

The Past Tense is formed by adding ay to the root, and 
prefixing t>o, which always aspirates the initial mutable in 
the active, but makes no change in the passive voice. 

The Consuetudinal Past is formed by adding inn and the 
other terminations to the root ; as, buccil, vo Buccilinn. 

The Future is formed by adding yav, and the other termi- 
nations to the root ; as, burnt, bucciipecro. Verbs of more 
than two syllables ending in 151m in the first person singular 
present indicative active make the future in occro, or ogcco ; 
as, ipoiiifigim, poittf eoccco, and £oiU/|peo§cco, to reveal. Fu- 
tures of this class are inflected in the same mode as the 
present, with the exception of the first pers. sing.; e.g., yoill- 
y eoccco, polity eoccafi, yo^ly eocccif) ye, <fec. This termination, 
occco, is sometimes written octcco, ocucnfi, &c 

The present and future tenses have each a relative form 
ending in eccf, ay, and iof ; as, a ceitecep, who conceals; a 
ceilyeay, who will conceal. 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 



29 



o 

> 

g 

03 

Ch 


3 


5-5-2 
£-^£- 

8 8 8 
p P P 

rH CM CO 


5= 

P- 

u 

o 

£ ;o p 

££-2 

8 8 8 
P P P 

-4 CM CO 




£-S-2 

•p.p p 

8 8 8 


i^ 6 

£-£-2 

"p "p v p 

rl rl h 

OOO 

OOO 

8 8 8 
P P P 


£\6 9 

e-cs 

8 8 8 


s=;o p 

© CD CD 
•P-P-P 

P-P-P- 


CD 
P 

§ 

8 
P 

i" 

CD 
P 

u 



8 
P 

ft" 
O 
O 

52; 

rH 


rH CM CO 


rH CM CO ! r-i CM CO 


H CM CO 


•a 
3 

be 
OQ 


I!* . 

5= -P ^CD 

8 8 8 
P P P i 


5= -p VCD 

8 8 8 
P P P 

rH CM CO 




N ®\r; 

fc -P vCD 
•P-P-P 
8 8 8 


E'P^CD 

P P "P 

*h Vi Jh 
OOO 

OOO 

8 8 8 
P P P 


5= -P v© 

8 8 8 
P-P-P- 


|^5 . 

5= -P vCD 

CD CD CD 
•P-P-P 

p-p-p- 


rH CM CO 


rH CM CO 


rH CM CO 


rH CM CO 


O 

M 
O 


5 


o 

C- 

8 .^ 
£;P P 


9 

I . 

p ° 

if. 


s= . P 

s= s= s= 

5: 5: £ 

8 8 8 


§=§§ 


6g? 


P 

i 

p 

1 

p. p. p. 


P- 

1 
P. 

O 

8ie e 

Sip. JJ- 


•i 

s 

•§ 

rf 
O 
O 

s 

rH 


i-i cm CO 


i-l CM CO 


rH <M CO 


rH CM CO 


rH CM CO 


r-< CM CO 


H CM CO 


3 

Ml 

C 
02 


i 
II 

CM CO 


"CD 

p- 

HNCO 


t ^ f 

s= p $- 

£ S= 5= 

§§§ 

rH CM CO 


. t 

Sf£I 

rH CN CO 


E-P 8 

rH CM CO 


t 

p-p-p. 

i-h CM CO 


>0 

s= v ^*P 
jlp-p- 

H CM CO 






Q 

O 
O 

g 
H 
« 

i 


Ph 


00 

a> 

Sh 

cs 

3 

a> 

OQ 

g 


-1-3 

Ph 


09 

aS 

rH 

.2 

a> 

OQ 

S3 
O 


i 

S3 

ft 


P 

O 
O 

& 



H 
P 

O 
O 


•aoojy; aAiivoiaNj 



30 IRISH GRAMMAR. 

The Conditional Mood is formed by adding pinn, and the 
various terminations given in the table, to the root ; 
as, bucni, buailpnn. When, however, the future ends in 
occcd, the conditional is formed from it by changing the ceo 
of the future into cann, the terminations being the same, with 
this exception, as in regular verbs ; e.g., poiU/jpeocccmn, 
poillf eoccc, <fcc. 

The Infinitive is formed (1) by adding ceo to the root and 
prefixing do, which generally aspirates the initial mutable : 
this is the most usual mode, but it is (2) sometimes like the 
imperative; as, f^fuof, infinitive, do fsyuof, to destroy. 
(3). Some verbs drop a slender vowel; as, cuifi, infin. t>o cuji, 
to place. (4). Those in ui§ form their infinitive by adding 
the usual termination ceo, only dropping the 1 ; as, becmnuig, 
infinitive, do beccrmugceo, to bless. Those in 1§ form it in the 
usual mode, only inserting a broad vowel after the 1, generally 
u ; as, polling, infinitive, 'o'poiiifiugcro, to show. These 
changes, it should be borne in mind, are only euphonic, aris- 
ing from that oft-repeated rule cccol te cccoi, 7c. (5.) Some 
add c to the root, but, as O'Donovan says, these have a second 
form; a^aiji, infinitive, D'crgaiftf;, or D'asfictD, to reprove. 
(6.) Some add ccrhuin ; as, qfieiD, infinitive, do qneiDeccrhuin, to 
believe. (7.) Some add cut; as, ccorhuig,* infinitive, D'ccDtMit, 
to confess. O'Donovan remarks : "In all verbal nouns borrowed 
from the English this termination is used in the corrupt 
modern Irish; as, box&ii, to box; deceit, to kick; fiott&it, to 
roll; fmtro&ii, to smooth" &c. (8.) Others, ccrfi ; as Dean, 
infinitive, do Decmarn, to do. (9.) Others, again, cccd ; as, 
ei|"o, infinitive, D'eifDectCD, to listen. (10.) Some few end in 
fin ; as, peic, D'£eiqpin, to see. And lastly, some are so 
irregular that they can be reduced to no rule ; as, icqxji, 
D'icqvp,cciD, to ask; ^taoD, infinitive, do glaoDccc, to cry out. 
These last must be learnt by practice, or by consulting the 
Dictionary. 

The so-called participles, as has been remarked in § 33, 
are merely the infinitive used with certain particles ; for the 
present, a or 0:5, for the past, iccji, which eclipses the initial 
mutable, and ccp, vi, or le for the future. These are fre- 
quently used as verbal nouns. 

* This form is rare in verbs of this ending, tug: they generally follow (4) 
in the formation of their infinitives. 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 31 

B. — Passive Voice. 

In the Passive Voice the analytic mode of forming the per- 
sons prevails ; there is, therefore, only one terminational end- 
ing to be learned for each tense. 

The Imperative is formed by adding uccft to the root. It 
has a first person singular. 

The Present Indicative is formed by adding the same termi- 
national ending. 

There is no separate form for the Consuetudinal Present. 

The Past is formed by adding ccf>, and prefixing t>o, which 
in this voice makes no change in the initial mutable. 

The Consuetudinal Past is formed by adding raoi or ri : 
when the particle t>o is prefixed, it does not affect the initial 
letter. 

The Future is formed by adding cqi or peep, to the impera- 
tive active. 

The Conditional Mood is formed by adding ^me to the. 
root. 

The Infinitive is formed by adding the termination za or 
ze, and prefixing the infinitive of the verb to be ; as, t>o beiu 
buccitue, to be struck. 

The Participle is formed by adding ucc or ze. 

The Passive voice may also be formed, as in English, by the 
various parts of the verb to be, and the passive participle; as, 
zdme bucniue, or c&irn buculue, i" am struck. 

§ 35. — Aspirations and Eclipses. 
In order to account for the various changes in the initials 
of the verb, we shall here give a list of such particles as aspi- 
rate and eclipse. 

A. — Those that Aspirate. 

1. CCjx, whether? (compounded of an, whether, and fio, sign 
of the past tense). It is only prefixed to the past tense. 

2. X)o and fio, signs of the past tense, and t>o the sign of 
the infinitive. 

3. ^T^ that (compounded of 50, that, and fio, sign of the 
past). It is only used with the past tense. O'Donovan points 
out an exception, ^ufiab e, that it is he. 

4. trice, if; prefixed to the indicative mood. 

5. THafi, as, like as. 



32 IRISH GRAMMAR. 

6. M acqa, which not (compounded of nac, that not, and fio, 
sign of the past) ; prefixed to the past. It is generally con- 
tracted into n&yi. 

7. tli, not ; prefixed to the present and future. W\ some- 
times eclipses, as ni bpuaifi me, I have not found, Luke xxiii. 
14, Keanes version ; ni frptniim, / am not. 

8. Miofi, not (compounded of ni, the preceding particle, and 
fio) ; prefixed to the past. 

B. — Those that Eclipse. 

On eclipsis, see § 7. 

1. CCn, whether? The eclipsis, perhaps, arises from the 
influence of the n. 

2. go, that; the ancient form of this was con, which ex- 
plains the ellipsis. 

3. T>&, if; prefixed to the conditional mood. The original 
n is seen in the old form T)icm. Via*. Zeuss, p. 670. 

4. 1cqi, after ; only prefixed to participles. The full form 
was icqnn. 

5. The relative a (anciently an) when preceded by a pre- 
position, either expressed or understood, as 6 a 'o-zaim-g, from 
whom came ; unless the particle fio, the sign of the past, or 
an abbreviation of it follows, in which case the verb is regu- 
larly aspirated ; e.g., CCT)arfi 6fi fxrpamafi, i.e., COoarh 6 a fio 
papamafi, Adam from whom we have sprung. 

6. TYlafi a, where, in which; as mafi a n7)ubaifi<:, where he 
said. The ellipsis is here caused by the relative a; see pre- 
ceding paragraph. 

7. TYluna, unless ; compounded of ma, if and na, not. The 
eclipses arise from the na, which appears in the form nan, 
nam, i.e., compounded with the relative an (Zeuss, p. 702); 
see No. 5. Its ancient form was mam. 

8. "Mac, which not. In the past tense this is compounded 
with fio, and becomes nop,, ncccafx ; it then aspirates, the as- 
piration arising, not from nccc, but fio. Zeuss (p. 703) does 
not seem to offer an explanation of the eclipsis ; but it may, 
perhaps, arise from the relative an being inherent in the word, 

§ 36. The Regular Verb. 
The following table contains the paradigm. 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 



33 









S=50 P 




Ins e 

£-*-2 

•p.p.p 

8 8 8 
© CD CD 


5= . • 

e*£ g 

*p v p v p 


i'S g 

: $-$-2 


1^ g 
CD CD 


CD 

JS 

8 

55 





03 


a 8 » 


8 8 8 




rOrOrO 


rOrJrJ 


8 8 8 


•P.5-P 
P-stJ-a. 




CD CD CD 
P P P 


CD CD CD 
P P P 




8 8 8 


8 8 8 


CD CD © 




s 


^JrO^O 


rirOrO 




55 55 55 


^ 55 55 


fOrOrO 


fOrOrJ 








8 8 5 


8 8 8 




-O-O-O 


*0_0-0 


8 8 8 


8 8 8 


d 
< 

CD 

8 


h 




3 P P 


P P 3 




O O O 


O o o 


55 ^3 55 


55 55 55 


O 
> 




rO^^ 


.0,0*0 

rH Oq CO 




9 9 9 


9 9 9 


J^H 


rOOO 


rH CM* CO* 


rH Oq' CO 


rH CM* CO 


1-^ oi co 


r-5 oq* co 












VCD vj_" 








co 

CO 

rH 


£ 


| d . 
C -P v® 

s-s-s- 


|s3 . 

£ -P vCD 




E -U ^CD 
.p.p-p 

8 8 8 

CD CD CD 


E -P vCD 

"p v i3 "p 


$= -P vCD 


vCD • 

E -P vCD 
CD CD CD 


55 

rO 
•P 

CD 




1 


8 8 8 


8 8 8 




rOrJrO 


rO^^ 


8 8 8 


•p.p.p 

p-2-5- 


50 




CD O CD 
P P P 


CD CD CD 
P P P 




8 8 8 


8 8 8 


CD CD CD 


8 




rOrO^O 


r^JSJo 




55 J3 55 


55 55 55 


rO^rO 


rO^^O 






X 


8 8 8 


8 8 8 




,0,0*0 


*0-0,0 


8 8 8 


8 8 8 


g 






3 p p 


55 55 55 




O o o 


O O O 


55 55 53 


P 5 P 


fa 






rH oq CO 


*0*0-0 

rH Oq CO 




P P P 


p P p 


OO^ 


rO-O-O 


» 


rHcqaj 


rH oq CO 


rH CM CO 


rH oq co 










5= . P 

£50 8 


£•££ 

ErO P 


i- C 










1 


Sr 51 


P 


J= S= £ 

§§§ 

CD CD 


8 8 8 

CD © CD 

8 8 8 


.0,0*0 

8 8 8 


P 

E-P p 


E-P P 
5-p-p- 


,0 
8 




s 


^JOrO 


rOrOrO 


rO^^ 


55 55 P 


55 ^3 P> 


rOrO^J 


rOfOrO 


55 


W 




8 8 8 


8 8 8 


8 8 8 


;o;o;o 


;o;o;o 


8 8 8 


8 8 8 


O 


o 




ppp 


55 55 55 


55 55 55 


o o o 


o o o 


55 53 ^3 


55 55 55 


kO 


o 




-0*0.0 


,0.0*0 


O-O-O 


P P P 


9 9 9 


00,0 


505050 


8 


f> 


















m 


rH Oq' CO* 


i-* O* CO 


H Oq* CO 


rH Oq' CO 


rH CM CO 


rH cq CO 


rH oq' CO 


H 


















M 

Q 
H 




vCD 




^ ^ VCD 

E P S- 


£r .«* 


vCD 


vCD 


^CD 
1^- 


?H 


5- 


%CD 


£ 5= £ 


8 £-$- 

CD IT^ 


c CD 8 
51 -P CD 


p . s- 


5= -*P 




cS 


• «P 


s= s= *= 


rOo3rO 


rOr^rO 




-«8 


Ph 




"E 

d 


8 

. . CD 


E sL-p 


8 8 8 
© © CD 


8 5 8 


8 8 8 


5. CD CD 






fOrO 


r3rOr3 


*0*0*0 


p p p 


55 £J J3 


rOrO^ 


^OrOrO 


•i 




. 8 8 


8 8 8 


8 8 8 


P^VO 


50-3 50 


8 8 8 


8 8 8 




55 £3 


55 55 33 


55 53 55 


o o o 


OOO 


55 ^5 ^3 


3 3 p 


rO 






.-OO 


rO^rO 


*0,0_0 


p p p 


P P P 


OOO 


505050 


8 
55 
50 

O 
P 

Q 








rH Oq' CO 


r-* 0* CO 


rH CM CO 


Hcsico 


rH CM CO 


rH oq CO 


rH oq* CO* 






■4-5 

d 




05 










O 

o 


<a3 
d 
H 


02 

CD 
H 

rH 




c3 

rH 

"el 

d 


a3 

d 
•4-3 






O 

O 








^j 


d 


c§ 


"3 


IJ 


> 






d 


"3 

d 


rH 


d 

CD 


d 

rH 


3 


H 






H 


CD 


-u 




d 







?5 






^ 


E 


















K 


Ph 


3 

!» 




d 




H 


fa 






fa 




d 
o 









Q 
O 


« 






§ 




O 
















aooj 


ij[ aAixvoia^i 




Q 





34 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 



§ 37. — Irregular Verbs. 
There are thirteen irregular verbs, viz. : — 1. Oi, the sub- 
stantive verb, to be. 2. CCbccifi, to say. 3. Oeifi, to bear. 
4. Cfoim, to see. 5. CLum, to hear. 6. *Oean, to do. 7. p<x§, 
to find. 8. 5 ri1Trl ? io do. 9. 1u, to eat. 10. Rig, to reac&. 
11. 'Gabaifi, to #we. 12. 'Gafi, fo come. 13. Deif), or ce, £o #o. 
§ 38. — The Substantive Verb, Oi, to 6e. 
Imperative Mood. 

Singular. 



bi. 

bioi), or biT>ecc6 ye. 

Indicative Mood, 
present tense. 



Plural. 
bitniy. 

blTHT). 

bfoiy. 



Mar. 

crccani, and cdim. 
crcaifi, and cdi|\. 
am ye, and t:d ye. 



crcdrnaoiT>, and cdmaoiT). 
crcdtaoi, and cdtccoi. 
acdiT), and cdiT>. 



There is another form also used, viz., iy or ay me, iy or 
ay ru, &c. This form is called by O'Donovan " the assertive 
verb." It may be called from its use the assertive present. 
Vid. § 64. 

Negative and Interrogative form. 
Singular. Plural. 

bptntim, bptntmiT). 

bptntiyt. ftptntei. 

frptni ye. 5ytnin>. 

It will be understood that this form requires the negative 
or interrogative particles precediug, as, ni byuilmi, / am not ; 
an byuiiuu, are you? There is also a relative form of the 
present, namely, bioy. 

CONSTJETUD1NAL PRESENT. 
Singular. Plural 

biT>im. bjrrji'D. 

biT>iji. biti. 

biT>ecmn, or bionn ye. biT>. 

This, with the exception of the third singular, is a regular 
present for bi. The third singular was also, anciently, bfo 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 



35 



pe. It is, however, used in the modern language as a consue- 
tudinal present. 



PAST. 



Singular. 
biT>eccp. 

blTHf. 

bi pe. 



Plural. 

biornaji. 

biotfccfi. 

bicoafi. 



Negative and Interrogative form. 



Singular. 
fiaftap. 
flatten p. 
ptcnb' -pe. 



Plural 

fiaftarnafi. 

Yiabaftcqri. 

jiaftccoap,. 



There is also another form, akin to this latter (via 7 . Zeuss), 
used, however, only in the analytic form, viz., bat), sometimes 
spelled bui), or bcc. The form buf> is sometimes, though rarely, 
used for the future. 



CONSUETUDINAL PAST. 



Singular. 

bi'Dinn. 
tiiT>ced. 
biT)eaf>, or biox> -pe. 



Singular. 
beiT>eceo, or bioco. 
bei'oiji, or bicafi. 
beiT) pe, or biaiT) -pe. 



FUTURE. 



Plural 
birnip. 
bit*, 
bi'Di'p. 



Plural 

bei'omi'o, or biccornaoi'o. 
beTDTD, or bicroam 
benoiT), or biaiT). 



Conditional Mood. 



Singular. 

beiT>inn. 
beTDted. 
beiT>ecc6 pe. 



Plural 
beiT>imip. 
beTDtiT). 
beiT>ip. 



Infinitive Mood. 
t>o beic 



Participle. 
05 beiu. 
The form ab occurs with the particles t>o, 50, jupt, &c., in 
a past and present signification, and also with evident pro- 

D 2 



36 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 



priety in some interrogatory sentences ; as, Wb dltim an 
bean i, she was a beautiful woman ; T)eifiim ^tifiab e, / say it 
is, or was, as the case may be ; ab e yo an yeay,, is this the 
man ? 





§ 39. — CCbaiyi, to say. 




ACTIVE VOICE. 




Imperative Mood. 


/Singular. 




Plural. 


• • • • 

abaifi. 
abfiaT) ye. 




ctbfiarnaoiy, or abnxcmccoiT) 

abyiam. 
abyiaiT). 
ccbyiai'oiy. 




Indicative Mood. 




PRESENT TENSE. 


Singular. 




PZ^m?. 


T>eitimi 7 or abfiaim. 

T>eiftiYi, or ccbyicciyi. 
T>eixi ye, or ccbjicciT) ye. 


'oeiYiimi'6, or abitatnaoiT), 

ccbfiatn. 
T>ei|ici'6, or abyiai'o-. 
r Dei|xiT>, or abyiaiT). 


CONSUETUDINAL PRESENT. 




'oeifieccrm me, cti, ye, yc. 




PAST TENSE. 


Singular. 




Plural. 


'Dtibftay. 
'oubYicny. 
, ot«6aifu; ip 


e. 


mi ftp-con an- 
'otibYiabcqfi- 
bubficeoan- 



CONSUETUDINAL PAST. 



Singular. 
T>eiy,inri. 
T>ein£ed. 
T>eijiecc6 ye. 



Plural. 



'oeiyiiffiiy. 

TjeijitiT). 

'oeifii'Oiy. 



Singular. 
'oeccyipcco. 
T>ecqvpcan.. 
'oecqi^ca'o ye. 



FUTURE. 



Plural. 

'oeayipamaoi'D. 

'oeayipai'D. 

•Deafiycm). 



Singular. 

•o&xjipccinn. 
T>eayipd. 
'oeafipa'6 fe» 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 37 

Conditional Mood. 

Plural 



TDeatxpamaoi^. 

'oeayipai'6. 

'oeajipai'oi'p. 



Infinitive Mood. 
T)0 yict'D. 

Participle. 
a^YidT). 



PASSIVE VOICE. 



Imperative Mood. 

abayitafi me, 7c 

Indicative Mood. 

present tense. 

•oeifiteccyi, or abcqfitafi me, cti, 7c 

PAST. 
T)tib|iaT) me, 7c 

CONSUETUDINAL PAST, 
'oeifiti me, 7c. 

FUTURE. 
t>ecrp/pafi me, 7c. 

Conditional Mood. 

T)ect|ipaiT>e me, 7c. 

Infinitive. 
x>o 6eit fidiT>ce. 

Passive Participle. 
jidTDce. 
The past tense, active, is not aspirated except after ni, not; 
nor does it take the particles vo or yxo before it. It is pro- 
bably a contraction of do beipteap , from the old verb, bei|\im, 
I say, into T>obfiaf , and thence into xmbftaf. 



38 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 

§ 40. — Oeifi, to bear. 





ACTIVE VOICE. 




Imperative Mood. 


Singular, 

beifi. 
bei|tecc6 f e. 




Plural, 
beifumif. 
beifiif>. 
beifiToif. 




Indicative Mood. 




PRESENT TENSE. 


Singular, 

beifiirn. 
beifufi. 
beifiix) fe. 




Plural. 
beifiimi'o. 
bei^itiT). 
bei|HT). 


CONSUETUDINAL PRESENT. 




beijiecmn me, 7c. 




PAST TENSE. 


Singular, 
TU15 fe. 




Plural. 

fiusamaii. 
Yitigabaji. 




CONSUETUDINAL PAST. 


Singular. 

beifiinn. 
beificea. 
beifieceo f e 




Plural. 
beiYnmip 
beificl. 
beifiToif. 




FUTURE TENSE. 


Singular, 

beccfiipcco. 
beafvpcciti. 
beatipaii) f e. 


Plural 
beaYipaTnaoiT) 
begytpaiT). 
becqvpai'o. 




Conditional Mood. 


becrp/paiTiTi. 
beajvpa. 
beap/pcco f e. 


Plural. 
beccyvpannaoi'p. 
beayvpaiT). 
beajipaToifv 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 

Infinitive Mood. 

t>o frjrteit. 

Participle. 
ccg byieit. 

PASSIVE VOICE. 



39 



Imperative Mood. 
beipxecqx me, cu, 7c 

Indicative Mood, 
present tense. 
beifxtecqfi me, 7c 

CONSUETUDINAL PAST, 
beifiti me, tu, 7c. 

FUTURE TENSE, 
bectfvpcqfi me, tu, 7c- 

Conditional Mood. 
beajipcciT>e me, 7c 

Infinitive Mood. 
t>o beiu beiyite. 

Passive Participle. 
beiyite. 



§ 41 — Cit)itti, to see. 



ACTIVE VOICE. 



Indicative Mood, 
present tense. 

Singular. Plural. 

ciT)im, or 61m. 
ciTnfi, or ci|i. 
ciT) 'pe, or ci fe. 



CTomiT), or cimiT). 
ciT>ti, or ci ci. 
ci'61'D, or ciT). 



40 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 



CONSUETUDINAL PRESENT. 



CToecmn me, cu, 7c. 
PAST TENSE. 



Singular. 



connccyicccp, conncccp. 
conncqricai'p, connccnf. 
conncnfic fe, connaic fe. 



Plural 

concccmapi, conn catnap, 
concatiapi, conncaoafi. 
concccoafi, connca'Dap,. 



CONSUETUDINAL PAST. 



Singular. 


Plural. 


ciT>inn. 
ciT>tea. 


ciTrniif. 

CI'DCIT). 


ciT>eaT) y*e. cltVoif. 


FUTURE TENSE. 


Singular. 


Plural. 


cl'opea'o. 

C1T>p|l. 
Ci'D'piT) -pe. 


ciT>pimiT) 

CltVpiCIT). 
CI'Opi'D. 


Conditional Mood. 


cixVpinn, ciT>pe&, 7c. 


PASSIVE VOICE. 



Indicative Mood. 

present tense. 
ci'Dcecqi me, tu, 7c 

PAST TENSE. 
connctjicccD, or conncao, me, cu, 7c 

CONSUETUDINAL PAST, 
ci'oti me, 7c 

FUTURE TENSE. 
ciTYpeaji me, 7c. 

Conditional Mood. 
ciTvpTDe me, 7c 
This verb wants the imperative and infinitive moods and 
participle active and passrve, but they are supplied by pcnc, 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 



41 



which ought not to be classed among the irregular verbs as 
it is regular in all its moods and tenses. 

The present and future tenses of this verb have the peculi- 
arity of being aspirated like the past. 

§ 42, — Cttnti, to hear. 

This verb is regular, except in the past tense, the infini- 
tive mood, and participle. 



PAST. 



Singular 

ctialar- 
cuctlcor. 
cuatociT) ■ 


pe. 


Plural. 

cuaiarnan.. 
cualaoayi. 
cuaiaDap.. 




Infinitive Mood. 




'do, or a cloiran. 




Participle. 




05 ctoircm. 




§ 43. — T)ean, to do. 




ACTIVE VOICE. 




Imperative Mood. 


Singular. 




Plural 


^ecm. 
'oeana'6 re. 




T>eanamaoir, 'Deanamaoi'D 

and 'Dean am. 
'oeancri'D. 
T)eanaiT)ir. 




Indicative Mood. 




present tense. 


Singular. 




Plural 


T)ecmaim. 
T)ecmaiia. 
'oecmcnf) re. 




T)eatieamaoiT). 

T>eanraoi. 

T>eanaiT). 



CONSUETUDINAL PRESENT. 
'Dean an n me, 7c. 



42 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 



PAST TENSE. 



'De&finct'p, and T>ecmecy\ 
'6e&Yvncciip, and T)ecmccif\ 
'Dedtina'6, and T>ean fe. 



Plural. 
'De&Yinamcqi, and T>ecmamati. 
T>edfina15cqi, and T>eomcrt)afi. 
'oedjincrocqfi, and i>ecm(roaii. 



CONSUETUDINAL PAST. 



Singular. 
T>ecmccirm, and T>edfinccinTi. 

T>eancd. 

T>ecmaT>, and T>edyin<r6 fe. 



Plural. 

'oecmamaoi'p, and T>edftTia- 

maoip. 
T>ecmcaoi. 
'oeanai'Di'p, and 'oeafinai'Di'p • 



FUTURE TENSE. 



Singular. 
T>eccnpa7>. 
'oecmpaifi. 
TDeanpaii) fe. 



Plural. 



'oecmpamaoi'o. 

'DeanpaiT). 

'oecmpai'o. 



Conditional Mood. 



Singular. 

T>ecmpainn. 
T>ecmpd. 
'oeanpa'D f e. 



Plural. 
'oecmpamaoif. 
'oeanpai'D. 
T>eanpai , oif\ 



Infinitive Mood. 
t>o T>ecmccm, or t)0 Tjecmcca 

Participle. 
05 T)eanarh, or 05 'oecmcro. 



PASSIVE VOICE. 



Imperative Mood. 
T>ecmucqi me, 7c 

Indicative Mood. 

present tense. 
T>eanT:ati me, tu, 7c 

PAST TENSE. 
'oecmcc'6, and T>edtincc6 me, 7c 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 



43 



FUTURE TENSE. 
T>ecmpcqi me, 7c 

Conditional Mood. 
T)ecmpai'6e me, 7c 

Infinitive Mood. 
t>o beit 'oeanccc. 

Passive Participle. 
'oecmcco 



Or, 





§ 44.— £05, fo>id. 




ACTIVE VOICE. 




Imperative Mood. 


Singular. 




Plural. 


-pccgaT) f e. 




pagmaoTp, or pagmaoi-o 

pcc^aiT). 

pccgca'oi'p. 




Indicative Mood. 




present tense. 


Singular. 




Plural. 


pccgaim. 
pagairi. 
pagarT) f e. 




pagmaoiT). 

-pagtaiT). 

pagaiT). 


Singular. 
geitiim. 
geitfip, 
geib -pe. 




Plural. 
£eit5imiT>. 
geiBciT). 
geibiT). 




PAST TENSE. 


Singular. 




Plural. 


-puccfKrp. 
pucqicup. 
puaifx -pe. 




pucqfiamccfi. 
pjcqficcoafi. 




CONSUETUDINAL PAST. 


Singular. 




Plural. 


geibmn. 
geitited. 
geibeax) -pe. 




§eit)imip. 

£eil5ciT>. 

5eibiT)ip. 



44 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 



And, 



Singular. 



Plural. 



fMxgccinn. 
paged. 




pasamaoif. 
tccgtaiT). 


pagcro fe. 


pagai'oiip. 


FUTURE TENSE. 


Singular. 




PfowaZ. 


geaticco, or geoticro. 
5eat5aifi, or geoticap,. 
geaftcciT), or geotica'o fe. 




geccBamccoi'o, or geobamaoiT). 
geabtaiT), or geotitai'D. 
5eat3aiT), or geobctTo. 


INTERROGATIVE AND NEGATIVE FUTURE. 


Singular. 




PfomzZ. 


bptnsecro. 
tfptngip^ 
{jptngecco f e. 




bptngeamaoi'D. 
bptngtaiT). 

bpUlgVO- 


Conditional Mood. 


Singular. 




Plural. 


geotiamn, or geatienrm. 
geobtd, 7c. 
geoticrD -pe, 7c 




geobamaoip, or geabamaoi-p. 
geobtaiT), 7c. 
geobcn'oip, 7c 


Infinitive Mood. 




'o'pdgait. 




Participle. 




05 pdgaii. 


PASSIVE VOICE. 



Imperative Mood. 
pagtccp me, tu, 7c 

Indicative Mood. 

present tense. 

pagtap me, cu, 7c 

PAST TENSE, 
puaficro, or ppit me, tti, 7c. 

CONSUETUDINAL PAST. 
5eit)ti, or ptngti me, tu, 7c 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 



45 



Conditional Mood. 
5eot5taiT>e me, 7c 





§ 45. — 5™™* to do. 




ACTIVE VOICE. 




Indicative Mood. 




PRESENT TENSE. 


Singular. 




Plural 


Snim. 
5HiT> -pe. 




5111TTIIT). 
gnitiT). 




PAST TENSE. 


Singular. 




Plural. 


5niT>eaf, or fiigneap. 
Snimp, or fvtgnifN 
gniT) pe, or pugne p* e, and 
punn -pe. 


gnio'omcqfi, or pj 511 earn ap.. 
5nioT>15a i |"i, or fiigneaoapt. 
grnoirocqri, or pugnecroap.. 




CONSUETUDINAL PAST. 


Singular. 




Plural. 


5niT)inn. 
5niT)ced. 
gni'Dea'D pe. 






PASSIVE VOICE. 



Indicative Mood. 

present tense. 
gmtecqi me, 7c. 

CONSUETUDINAL PAST, 
grnti me, 7c. 

This verb wants the other tenses, or they are formed from 
T>ecm. Tligneccp in the past tense is evidently a contraction 
of pio, sign of the past, and jecmccif =5ttii)eap . 



46 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 



§ 46. — 1u, to eat. 

This verb is regular, except in tbe future tense and Con- 
ditional Mood. 



Singular. 
lo-ppcro. 
iappaifi. 

Singular. 

loyTxmnn. 
lOf^a. 
icppcro f e. 



FUTURE. 

Plural. 

lo-ppamaoiT). 

10-ppaiT). 

lo-ppai'o. 

Conditional Moon. 

loy^amiaoif. 
icppaix). 



iappai , oij». 



Infinitive Moon. 



'Dice. 



Tbe regular Past is T)' itecqp ; tbere is, however, an old 
form T)ticqf\ which may be contracted for T>'iueo?p, 'oiuecqp, 
T>ecrp, T)uaf ; this is seldom used in the spoken language, but 
is in the New Testament — T>uccif> etiD vo tigefi fuaf me — 
the zeal of thy house has eaten me up— John, ii. 17 ; and cccyieif 
a ^ctmrheaiua eiT)i|i a tarnaiti T)6iB, 'oucroaii iceo, a/if^r 7^6- 
bing them between their hands, they ate them. — Luke, vi. 1. 



§ 47. — Hi 5, to reach. 


Imperative Mood* 


Singular, 


Plural 


yugecco fe. • 


pigmifv 

t\151T). 

tugi'Dif. 


Indicative Mood. 


PRESENT TENSE. 


Singular. 


Plural. 


Tugim. 


fiismi'D. 

fllgti. 
111517). 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 



47 



CONSUETUDINAL PAST. 

Plural. 



Yiigirm. 
Yiigecco fe. 



fugnrnf. 



future tense. 
Conditional Mood. 

Infinitive Mood. 

t>o nocccan. 

§ 48. — 'Gabcflfi, to give. 



ACTIVE VOICE. 



Imperative Mood. 



Singular. 



Plural. 



cat5fiamaoTp. 
caftfictTOip. 



Indicative Mood. 

present tense. 

beifvim, rtigaim, and ccd5jxaim. 

CONSUETUDINAL PRESENT, 
beseem n me, cugann me, and uafyiann me. 

PAST TENSE. 



Singular. 
tugai'p. 



Plural. 

cusamoqi. 
cugabccfv 



CONSUETUDINAL PAST, 
fceiyimn, and tugamn. 

FUTURE, 
beccfipcro, and cabafipcro, 7c. 

Conditional Mood. 
becqipairm, caticqipcorm, and ciubficnnn. 



48 IRISH GRAMMAR. 

Infinitive Mood, 
tdo taticcific. 

Participle. 
05 cation fie 



PASSIVE VOICE. 



Imperative Mood. 

beificeccjfi, cugtayi, and cccticqvcccfi me, yc» 

Indicative Mood. 

present tense. 
beifitecqi me, and ctigtcqi me, 7c 

PAST TENSE. 

eugeco me, 7c 

CONSUETUDINAL PAST. 

tieiyiti'oe, or tti^aTDe me, 7c 

FUTURE. 

becqvpcqi, and mticqvpcqfi me, 7c. 

Conditional Mood. 

tiecqipcciT>e, and mticqfipcti'oe me, 7c. 

Passive Participle. 

etigea, and cctticcfitcc. 

This verb is made up of three defective verbs — beift, ^5, 

and uctbceifi. The tenses of those verbs which are used may 

be perceived by reading the verb as given above. The past 

tense is that of 015 only. There is a peculiarity in the use of 

bei|iim, the present ; viz., that it takes the particle t>o before 

it, sometimes expressed and sometimes understood, and then 

the b is aspirated as in the past tense. 



§ 49. — 'Cotyi, to come. 
Imperative Mood. 



Singular. 



cctyi, ccciji, or C15. 
ciseccD, or co^cro f e. 



Plural 



cipmif , or cctsamccoif. 
ci5i'oif > , or cccgaTDif • 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 



49 





Indicative Mood. 




PRESENT TENSE. 


Singular, 




Plural. 


C1511T). 
cigiyi. 
cig y e. 




cigmiT), or ci 51m I'D. 

ClgCIT). 

C151T). 




PAST TENSE. 


Singular. 




PfemZ. 


can gay. 
cdngaiy. 
cam 15 ye. 




can 5am ay., 
can^a^ay,. 
cdnga'oay. 


Or, 




Singular. 




Plural. 


ydngay.* 
ydngaiy. 
fidnaig, or ydinig ye. 


ydnsamay. 
ydngatiay. 
ydnga'oay. 




CONSUETUDINAL PAST. 


Singular. 




Plural. 


ctgnw. 

cigced. 
ci5ecc6 ye. 




£151™ iy» 

cigciT). 

cigToiy. 




FUTURE TENSE. 


Singular. 




P/wra?. 


ciocpaT>. 
ciocpaifi. 
ciocpaiT> ye 




ciocparnaoTO, or aocparn. 

ciocpaiT). 

ciocpan). 


Singular. 


CONDITIOl 


jal Mood. 

Plural. 


ciocpamn. 
ciocpd. 
ciocpcco ye. 




ciocpamaoiy. 

ciocpaiT). 

ciocpaToiy. 




Infinitive Mood. 




t>o ceacc. 




Participle. 




05 ceacc. 



* Some grammarians make this the past of yij ; but it is evidently a 
contraction for yio can gay ; its general meaning in the third person is, it 
came to pass; they happened: ^dngaiy, you happened to be, &c. 



50 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 

§ 50. — •'Cei'6, or ze, to go. 
Imperative Mood. 



Singular. 



Plural. 



ceif>. 
ceiT>ecc6 fe. 






cemrrni 1 , or ceirm-p. 

CeTOIT). 

teiTroi-p. 




Indicative Mood. 




PRESENT TENSE 




Singular. 

ceTDim. 
ceTOiji, 
cei'6 fe. 






Plural. 
cei'omi'o, or ceimiiD 
ceTDtiT), or ceitiT>. 
cei'on), or cei'o. 




PAST tENSE. 




Singular. 






Plural. 


cua'oaf. 
ctKroaiip. 
ctiaix) fe. 






cuct'omaYi. 
ctia'Dbaii. 
cua'6'oafi. 



CONSUETUDINAL PAST. 



Singular. 

<ceiT>inti. 
cei'oted. 
ceiToeaT) fe. 


Plural, 
terimif. 
ceiT>ci. 
tei'6'Di'p. 


FtJTURI 


: TENSE. 


Singular 


Plural. 


fiacpaifi. 
YiacpaTo fe. 


ftac'pctmccoi'o* 

fiacpaiT). 

liacpai'D. 



Or, fiaca'o, fiacaifi, fiacaiT) fe, omitting the p. 
Conditional Mood. 



yiacpainn. 
jxacpa. 
YiacpaT) ^e. 



Plural. 

yiacpamaoi|\ 

fiacpaiT). 

yiacpaTDif. 



irish grammar. 51 

Infinitive Mood. 

Participle. 

The past tense is often f>eaccqf\ This form is used after ni, 
and the interrogative a, and with 50, <fec. 

"Haliday, the Eev. Paul O'Brien, and others, make imui§ 
a form of the imperative mood of this verb ; but this cannot 
be considered as correct; as, imui§im, which is a regular 
verb, signifies I depart, not I go. In some parts of Munster 
the imperative of ceiT)im, I go, is frequently made eifii§ (and 
sometimes, corruptly, ueifug) ; but this must be deemed an 
anomaly ? as it is properly the imperative of eifti§im, / arise" 
— 0' Donovan. 

§ 51. — Defective Verbs,. 

The following defective verbs are used in the spoken lan- 
guage :— 

ccifi f e, said he. 

'occyi iiom, methinks ; T>cqi ieif* pern, he himself thinks; T>cqfi teo, they 
think. 

T>ii5tea|i, & •* allowed. 

peccoafi, I know ; only used negatively and interrogatively, and in the 
present tense; ni peccoctji me, / do, not know; ni peccocan, pe, ni pecco- 
fianmip,, &c. 

t&pXa, it happened. 



CHAPTER VI. 
Particles. 

§ 52. — Adverbs. 

There are few simple adverbs in the Irish language. Ad- 
verbial expressions are formed by prefixing 50 to adjectives ; 
as, mcciu, good; 50 menu, well; these are compared in the 
same way as the adjectives themselves. Adverbial expres- 
sions are also formed by the combination of prepositions and 
nouns, or pronouns ; as, aft ^cut, backwards, compounded of 
afi, upon; and cut, the back. 

e2 



52 IRISH GRAMMAR. 

The following particles are only used in composition :- 
A. — Negative Particles. 



ccrti e.g 


.withT>eom, will. 


airiTDeoin, unwillingness. 


an 


?) 


cyiox, time. 


ariCYiox, improper time. 


'DO 


?? 


bevifac, well-behaved, 'ooitieufac, ill-behaved. 


T)1 


55 


cyieiT>eam, belief. 


'oiqftei'oearh, unbelief. 


T>flOC 


55 


btaf, taste. 


'DYiocbXar', a bad taste. 


ea* or ei 


55 


coiyi, righteousness. 


eagcoifi, unrighteousness. 


eav 


55 


cayia, a friend. 


eay^cayia, an enemy. 


mi 


55 


ciatt, sense. 


mi ciatt, folly. 


11 earn 


55 


ctaon, partial. 


n earn ctaon , impartial. 






B. — Intensitive Particles. 


ai> e.g 


. with motaT), praise. 


a'DthoLa'D, excessive praise. 


an 


55 


mort, great. 


anrtioyi, very great. 


bic 


55 


beo, living. 


bitbeo, everliving, eternal. 


'DO 


55 


byion, grief. 


'oobfion, great grief. 


it 


55 


gtie, a &mc?. 


itgneiteac, of many kinds, manifold. 


im 


55 


t&ri,,/W£ 


lomtan, very full. 


ott 


55 " 


gtofi, woz'se. 


ottgton^ great talk, bombast. 


tiyt 


55 


ea^buiT), wa?^. 


tuyiear'btii'D, great want, poverty. 



G. — Particles of various other meanings. 

am or em e.g. with ioc, a payment. aipoc, a repayment. 

at „ btaf, a savour. atbtaf, an after savour. 

com, equal, as cfiom, weight. corfitfiom, equal weight. 

Tjeag, or T>ei§, good, as htay, taste. 'Dea^btap, a good taste. 

m,ft, as 'oeanca, done. inT>eanca, j^ to be done. 

vo, easy, as Tjeanca, done. ■jpoi'oeanca, easy to be done. 

Let the learner bear in mind the rule caot te caot, 7c. 
Thus, ccrh is airfi in ainroeoiTi ; t>o is t>oi in T>oibetif ac ; 1m 
is 10m in 10m tan, &c. Several of these particles have also a 
separate existence as substantives or adjectives. 

The particles used with verbs have been mentioned pre- 
viously in § 35. 

§ 53. — Prepositions. 

There are many simple prepositions, such as 05, at; aiyi, 
upon; ann, in, &c; and these again, with nouns, form com- 
pound prepositions; as, a§aiT>, the face; cm agent), in the face, 
against, &c. 

* ea generally eclipses the initial mutable of the noun with which it is 
compounded ; as, ea'D^yiocaiyie, cruelty. This is a peculiar case of eclipsis ; 
the negative ea was originally ex, then ej\ In the latter shape it appears 
before vowels, as ea'p-aoncac, disunited, eay^-oyvD, disorder. This will 
help to understand the n of the common eclipsis, which is likewise intact 
before vowels. 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 53 

The following prepositions generally aspirate the initial 
mutable of the nouns they govern : — 



cap, upon. 

T>e, of. 

T)0, to. 

pa, paoi, under. 

peaT>, throughout. 



TOip, between. 
map, like to. 
o, xxa,from. 
cpe, through. 



CCnn, in, and iccpt, after, eclipse the initial mutable. The 
original form of icqri was iccyvn, vid. § 35. 

Le, with or through, and o,from, in the modern language pre- 
fix h to nouns beginning with a vowel; as, pu§ne me pin te 
heccgicc, / <#id ^a^ through fear. 

§ 54. — Conjunctions. 

Conjunctions are simple and compound : simple, as 50, 
that; cc^up, and; the compound are those compounded of 
different parts of speech, forming a sort of conjunctional phrase, 
T)o bfii§, because; tume pin, therefore. 

For the influence of certain conjunctions upon the initials 
of the words that follow them, vid. § 35. 

§ 55. — Interjections. 
The following are a few of the more usual interjections : — 



a! 01 

ap cp,u ccg! woe! 
popaop! a/as/ 
tic! oh! 



main.5! woe to! 
monticcp,! alas! 
ceinrheap, ! happy. 
eipc! hush! 



CC and o, it must be observed, aspirate the initial mutable 
of the noun to which they are prefixed. 



54 IRISH GRAMMAR. 

PAEI III. 

SYNTAX. 



CHAPTER I. 

§ 56. — The Article. 

The Irish language has no indefinite article corresponding 
to the English a or an; but this is expressed either by the 
absence of the definite article an, or sometimes in the mode 
mentioned in § 61. 

The definite article an has the following syntactical pecu- 
liarities. 

When one noun governs another in the genitive, the article 
is used before the genitive case, and not with the governing 
noun, as in English the sense would require ; as, mac an mime, 
the son of man ; but if a possessive pronoun be used with the 
governed noun, or if the governed noun be such a proper noun 
as would not take the article, the article is omitted ; as, obaifi 
a tcame, the work of his hand ; TYlac T>e, the Son of God, 

But if the noun governed should merely stand in the place 
of an adjective, then the governing noun, if it has no adjec- 
tive, may take the article ; as, na ma'Oftaif) cnoic, the moun- 
tain dogs; an peayi coyifiam, the reaper ; lit., the man of a 
hook. 

The article is used in Irish in some instances where in 
English it would be omitted; viz. — (a) Before a noun which 
would take, at the same time, a demonstrative pronoun ; (b) 
Before a noun preceded by its adjective and the assertive 
present iy ; (c) Before the names of certain places ; as, fiig na 
hGiyieann, &c. ; (d) Abstract nouns also take the article, or 
nouns used as abstracts; as, an u-oqxuf, hunger; uami§ an 
peacat) aiji an faogai, sin entered the world. — Rom. v., 12 ; 
vo qfieaf^aifi an bap , death laid low. 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 55 

§ 57.— The Noun. 

The same concords of Noun, Adjective, Pronoun, and Verb, 
which occur in other languages, occur also in Irish. 

One noun governs another in the genitive, as in other lan- 
guages, the two nouns frequently forming a compound ex- 
pression ; as, pecqx coyificcm, a man of a hook, i.e., a reaper. 

"When, in the absence of the article, the latter of two 
substantives in the genitive case is the proper name of a 
man, woman, or place, its initial is aspirated ; as, 6 amifift 
j5aT)|Uii5, from the time of St. Patrick" — 0' Donovan. 



CHAPTER II. 

The Adjective. 
§ 58. — Adjectives in general. 

The aspiration of adjectives, when joined to nouns, has been 
treated of in § 21. 

Adjectives are generally placed after the nouns to which 
they belong, except (a) in the case of emphasis ; or (b) in the 
case of some monosyllabic adjectives ; as, 'oeccg, good; fecm, 
old, &c. ; and (c) of numerals, vid. § 59 ; as, an 'Gomna Wucrd, 
the New Testament ; Deayi^ lay aifi, red flame. The adjective 
also precedes the noun when joined to the assertive present 
if ; as, \\ pucqft an ia e, it is a cold day. 

When the adjective precedes the noun it is frequently re- 
garded as forming with it a compound word, and consequently 
suffers the same initial changes after the article or preposition 
as if it were a noun, and aspirates the initial letter of its noun 
if a mutable consonant; as, an u-615 £eafi, the young man; 
an r-fean bean, the old woman. 

When the adjective is the predicate of a sentence, and the 
noun is the subject, the adjective is not inflected and suffers 
no initial changes ; as, za an bean ^eanamtnl, the woman is 
beautiful; if maiu iaD, they are good ; t>o fxigne me an f^ian 
^eufi, / sharpened the hiife, not vo fii§ne trie an fgicm jeufi, 
which would be / made the sharp knife. 

"When an adjective, beginning with a lingual, is preceded 
by a noun terminating with a lingua], the initial of the adjec- 



56 IRISH GRAMMAR. 

tive retains its primary sound in all cases of the singular ; as, 
ccyi mo guatamn T>eif, on my right shoulder ; aft a coif veif , 
on his right foot" — 0' Donovan. 

"• When an adjective is used to describe the quality of two 
nouns, it agrees with the one next to it ; as, pecqft a^uy bean 
maiu, a good man and woman; bean 7 peap, mait." — 
O'Donovan. 

Adjectives which signify profit, nearness to, fitness, and 
their opposites, take after them the dative case with vo ; as, 
if oic T)om, it is bad for me ; if maiu T)om, it is good for me. 

Adjectives which signify fulness, and those which signify 
part of any thing, take T>e, of with the article before the noun 
in the dative ; as, peaft 'oona* T>aomib, one of the men; idn 
^mfge^full of water. 

Adjectives which signify likeness, or an emotion of the 
mind, take te with the dative case ; as, if cofmtnl an peajx 
te pigea'ooifi, the man is like a weaver. 

The comparative degree takes nd, or no, than, before the 
following noun : as, ay mo p6l nd peaT>ayi, Paul is greater 
than Peter. 

" The superlative degree does not require a genitive case 
plural after it, as in Latin, for the genitive case in Irish, as in 
English, always denotes possession, and nothing more, and 
therefore could not be applied, like the genitive case plural in 
Latin, after nouns partitive, or the superlative degree ; but it 
generally takes after it the preposition tx>, or, more correctly, 
T>e." — 0' Donovan. 

§ 59. — Numerals. 

Numeral adjectives precede their substantives; as, aon 
ipeaft, one man ; but when the number consists of a unit and 
decimal, the noun is placed between the unit and the decimal; 
as, t;yii ctoca Deag, thirteen stones ; aon peayi ayi piciT), twenty- 
one men. 

The cardinals va, two; pice, twenty ; and all the multiples 
often (as, T)eic ayi pciT), thirty ; ceuT>, a hundred) take the 
noun in the singular number ; as, ceuT> peafi, a hundred men. 

* Anciently T>oncab\ vid. § 8. 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 57 

CHAPTER III. 

The Pronoun. 

§ 60. — Personal Pronouns. 

Personal Pronouns, as in other languages, agree with their 
antecedents in number, gender, and person. 

If a sentence be the antecedent, the pronoun will be the 
third person singular masculine; bat if a noun of multitude 
be the antecedent, the pronoun will be the third person plural. 

If two or more persons or things be mentioned, the pronoun 
will agree with the first person rather than the second, and 
with the second rather than the third — bticcil f e T^uya apif 
mife, aguf bi pnn uin, he struck you and me, and we were sick. 

The personal pronouns, when compounded with prepositions, 
as given in § 27, are used with the substantive verb bi, and 
with other verbs to form certain idiomatic expressions. We 
subjoin a few examples. 

CC^ccm, means literally, ivith me ; but, when used with bi, 
serves in place of the verb to have ; as, m cc^ccm teabcqft, 
I have a book ; ra a^cco, you have (sing.) ; zd a^e, he has ; 
beix> .ficco a^cco, you shall have them ; ■capofo'in^in a^amfa, 
I know your intention; nac frpuit oqaajp ofiu? are you not 
hungry ? ca hcanim aua oyiu ? what is your name? ml nectfu; 
a^am cofi, I cannot help it; an bf uii aon niT> uaiu ? do you 
want any thing ? 

§ 61. — Possessive Pronouns. 

The possessive pronouns always precede their nouns ; as, 
mo cecmn, my head. 

On the position of the emphatic increase when used with 
possessives, see § 28. 

The possessive pronouns, when either compounded with, or 
preceded by, the preposition cmn, in, expressed or understood, 
are used with the substantive verb bi, to denote an office or 
state of being ; as, za f e 'ncc f a^aytu, he is a priest, literally, 
he is in his priesfs state. 

§ 62. — Relative and Interrogative Pronouns. 

The Relative Pronoun a, whether expressed or understood, 
aspirates the initial mutables of verbs, except when a preposi- 
tion governing the relative precedes it, and the relative is not 
the nominative to the verb ; in such a case it eclipses instead 
of aspirating. The preposition may sometimes be understood. 



58 IRISH GRAMMAR. 

On the reason for the eclipsis, see § 29. 

The relative always precedes the verb, and, being indeclin- 
able, the context must decide whether it is the agent or the 
object; as, an peoqfi abtiaiiim, the man whom I strike; an 
peap, a buaiieaf me, the man who strikes me. 

" The relative is often omitted when it is either preceded 
or followed by a vowel or an aspirated consonant ; as, an £iolta 
txv§ an seaYVfidn ieif , the hoy that brought the horse with him? 
— Neilson. 

The Interrogative Pronouns always precede the verb with 
which they are connected ; as, 50 T>e map, rA zu ? how do you 
do ? If the interrogative should be under the government of 
a preposition, it is still placed first ; and the preposition follows 
with a personal pronoun expressed, unless the interrogative 
should be connected directly with a noun ; as, cia ieip a bptni? 
with whom is he 2 

§ 63 — Demonstrative and Indefinite Pronouns. 

The Demonstrative Pronouns immediately follow the nouns 
or adjectives with which they may be connected ; as, an bean 
pn, that woman. 

There is one exception to the foregoing : — viz. where the as- 
sertive present if is understood; as, fo an peap,, this is the man. 

" The pronouns qfieuT), ^coe, cia, &c, are commonly used 
without interrogation, as demonstratives ; as, zd pof 05am 
$o T>e a f)eafipd, / know what you would say" — Neilson. 

tlile, when placed before a noun, signifies every, and takes 
the noun in the singular ; but when placed after a noun, it has 
the meaning of all, and the noun is then put in the plural ; 
as, uite peap,, every man ; pp, tnie, all men. 



CHAPTER IV. 
§ 64.— The Verb. 

The Verb agrees with its nominative in number and person. 

Two or more singular nouns joined by a conjunction will 
take tbe verb in the singular number; as, udmi§ mife a^uf 
zuf a, / and you came. 

If the nominative be a noun of multitude the verb will be 
in the plural. 

The nominative generally follows the verb (part of the sen- 
tence may intervene) ; as, T>ubaip,u an peap,, the man said. 



IRISH GRAMMAR. 59 

Relative and 'interrogative pronouns, as before mentioned, 
precede the verb. 

" When the assertive verb if , or the particles an, or ride, 
which always carry the force of ip, and never suffer it to be 
expressed, are used, the collocation is as follows : — the verb 
conies first, next the attribute, or predicate, and then the 
subject ; as, if peafi me, / am a man; ip mait icro, they are 
good. But if the article be expressed before the predicate, 
then the attribute comes next after the verb ; as, if me an 
peap,, I am the man." — 0' Donovan. 

The verb bi (with the exception of the assertive present 
form ip) always employs a preposition, such as a, 1, or ann, 
in, as mentioned in § 61, in asserting the existence of any 
subject ; as, zd pe 'n-a peap,, he is a man. But the assertive 
present ip is always used in this sense without a preposition; 
as, ip peayi me, / am a man. O'Donovan (p. 379) remarks : — 
"The two modes of construction represent the idea to the 
mind in a quite different manner. Thus, zd me am' peap,, 
and ip peaji me, though both mean / am a man, have a dif- 
ferent signification ; for zd me am' peafi, is I am in my man ; 
i.e. / am a man, as distinguished from some other stage, such 
as childhood, or boyhood ; while ip peap, me indicates that I 
am a man, as distinguished from a woman, or a coward." 

The pronoun is not used with the synthetic form. — Vid. § 33. 

When the noun precedes the infinitive, it is put in the ac- 
cusative ; when it follows, it is governed in the genitive. 

The present participle, with the verb bi, expresses the con- 
tinuance of the action ; as, zd me 05 teigeaf) mo leabaip,, / 
am reading my book. 

Transitive verbs take their objects in the accusative case. 

Verbs of advantage and disadvantage take the object of the 
benefit or injury in the dative case with t>o, or similar prepo- 
sitions. 

Verbs of comparing and taking away also govern the dative 
case of the object of comparison or deprivation, with the pre- 
position ua, or such like. 

One verb governs another in the infinitive mood, as in other 
languages. u When the governed verb is one expressing mo- 
tion or gesture, which does not govern an accusative, the sign 
7)0 is never prefixed; as, T>nbairxc pe tiorn mil 50 Cop,cai§, he 
told me to go to Cork" — O'Donovan. In some parts of Ireland 
this would be expressed, T>ubaip,<:pe tiom a T>ui 50 Coftcaig. 



60 IRISH GRAMMAR. 

CHAPTER V. 

Particles. 
§ 65. — Adverbs. 

Monosyllabic adverbs are placed before the words to which 
they belong ; as, p,6 mop,, very great. 

u Compound adverbs, particularly those formed from adjec- 
tives, are placed after the nominatives to the verbs which they 
qualify, but never placed between the auxiliary and the verb 
as in English; as, T>'etpi§ ye 50 moc, he rose early ; ra fe 
T)ecmra 50 ceayiu, it is done properly ; not za pe 50 ceafiu 
T>eanua." — 0' Donovan. 

Adverbs signifying proximity take the dative case gener- 
ally with t>o ; as, zd pe an^apt T)om, he is near me. 

The following adverbs also take the dative case : — a bpop , 
on this side ; a frpceo, afar off ; amac, out ; amwc, without ; 
call, beyond ; an alt, on this side ; apeeac, within ; as, pan 
a bpop a^umn, stay on this side with us. 

§ 66 — Prepositions, 

The prepositions in general govern the dative case ; as, 
tdinig pe 50 hCCtbamn, he came to Scotland. 

^an, without, and ixnp,, between, sometimes govern the accu- 
sative ; as, ^an poiap, without comfort; foiyi an peap, a$up a 
bean, between the man and his wife. 

The following prepositions, being in reality nouns, govern 
the genitive case : — 



cum, to. 
T>eip, after. 



lormptn'oe, unto. 
peift, according to. 
cimcioU,, about. 



pea/D, throughout* 

All compound prepositions for the same reason take the 
genitive ; as, a n-a§aii) mo uoite, against my will. 

On initial changes caused by certain prepositions see § 53. 

§ 67. — Conjunctions and Interjections. 

There is no peculiarity in the syntax of the conjunctions. 
On initial changes caused by certain of them see § 35. 

The interjection maifis, woe, being in reality a noun, is al- 
ways followed by the preposition do, with the dative ; as, 
maifi<5 mnr, woe to thee ! 

THE END. 



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